Decentralisation will be delivered but no date set

That was the firm contention by Brendan Smith, T.D., Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, who is attending a Council of Ministers meeting in Brussels, as he spoke to the Anglo Celt this week. However, the Office of Public Works (OPW) could not comment on whether or not Cavan would be affected. Minister Smith said that Fianna Fáil has a proud record of delivering Decentralisation to County Cavan. Minister Smith instanced the decentralisation of Divisions of the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food in 1990 and said that the Fianna Fáil Party in Government was committed to an ambitious decentralisation programme, which will bring major benefits to counties such as Cavan. Minister Smith was being asked to respond to the latest position with regard to the Government"s Decentralisation policy following Monday"s important meeting from which it has emanated that there will be a 'pause' with regard to certain aspects of the programme. A spokesperson for the Office of Public Works said that where the Government was committed to the purchase of a site or the construction of a building they would proceed with that contract. In other cases in which there wasn"t a contract signed there would be a pause, not a halt, to the decentralisation project in question, he said. With regard to Cavan he acknowledged that the State had purchased a 10 acre site for the new Department of Communications, Energy and Natural Resources at Farnham Road, Cavan, for a consideration believed to be in the region of €3 million. They had sought expressions of interest for the construction of a design and build project to house the new Department but no contract had yet been signed. Asked if the Cavan decentralisation project would be affected by the proposed pause or if it would proceed to tender, the OPW spokesperson said he wasn"t in a position to give a commitment on that. He said that the Decentralisation Programme was being dealt with by the Implementation Group and the Department Secretary Generals who would be reporting to the Taoiseach and the Government. It would then be a Government decision as regards the priority given to a particular Departmental decentralisation project, he added. Positive Meanwhile the Department of Communications, Energy and Natural Resources in response to The Anglo Celt say that as part of the Government"s decentralisation programme the headquarters of the Department is scheduled to relocate to Cavan at the end of 2010. This will involve the relocation of approximately 300 posts. 'Over 120 civil servants have signed up to decentralise with the Department to Cavan to date. 50 staff have already relocated to interim accommodation in Elm House, Cavan. 'In addition, the Department continues to progress additional applications from civil servants who have expressed an interest on the Central Applications Facility (CAF) in relocating to Cavan. The Department is also liaising with the Office of Public Works (OPW) on long term accommodation needs'. Shouldn"t be disappointed Cavan Fine Gael Oireachtas member, Senator Joe O"Reilly has raised the issue in the Seanad where he stated that it was vital that Decentralisation should go ahead in Cavan. He repeated this call in a statement to The Anglo Celt. 'Teradyne did not come through as promised some years ago. Cavan should not receive a second disappointment. What point in being a Hub Town if we do not get the Infrastucture. I have called for a Government statement on Decentralisation to Cavan in the Senate last week and will go on doing so until I get an answer. 'This government by backing down on Decentralisation are breaking trust and faith with the electorate. The people must use next year"s Local and European Elections to break trust with them', concluded Senator O"Reilly.