Westmeath Labour Deputy Willie Penrose is calling on the Government to clarify the situation regarding the decentralisation project proposed for Mullingar.
“There is massive confusion at Government level regarding the progress of decentralising the Department of Education to Mullingar,” said Deputy Penrose. He continued, “The required land has been purchased, planning permission has been granted, and civil servants are ready, willing, and able to transfer to Mullingar. Yet there has been no progress on this for the past few weeks. The people of Mullingar and those civil servants who want to move here deserve an explanation”.
The Minister for Education, Batt O'Keeffe informed Deputy Penrose that the Mullingar decentralisation of his department's headquarters will take place when new permanent accommodation is ready for occupation, likely to be sometime in 2010. He added that approximately 130 posts in Dublin are now held by officers who will re-locate to Mullingar with their posts.
Volunteers for decentralisation will be assigned to the remaining posts as the current post holders transfer out under the Dublin arrangements or to decentralise to other locations. He went on that there are no plans to secure temporary accommodation for an advance party to Mullingar, prior to the provision of the permanent office accommodation in 2010. However, the Department of Education utilised existing available accommodation in its regional office in Mullingar to decentralise seven posts from Dublin to that location last June.
However, the Minister for Finance, Brian Lenihan, informed Deputy Penrose in a letter that any further expenditure on the acquisition of accommodation for decentralisation would be paused pending the detailed consideration by Government of reports from the Decentralisation Implementation Group (DIG ), and the Implementation Group of Secretaries General. He added “Such consideration by the Government will take place over the next few months and as soon as it is completed”. Minister Lenihan continued that he would be in touch with the Deputy again about the relocation of the department to Mullingar.
Deputy Penrose commented, “To say that I am confused by the contents of the replies would be a gross understatement. Which one of them is right? I'm now calling on the Ministers to get their story straight. We need clarity as to what the plans are for the decentralisation project in Mullingar, and we need to know precisely when it will happen.”
