This article is from page 10 of the 2006-07-18 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 10 JPG
ENTERPRISE Ireland staff are not falling over themselves to apply for decentralised positions in Shannon.
One year after it was announced that the State body would move to the mid-west, not one staff member has physically arrived and just 52 Government employees have applied for the 292 posts that need to be filled.
A spokesman for the Department of Finance, which is in charge of decentralisation applications, confirmed that 52 Government employees have nominated Shannon and Enterprise Ireland as their first choice destination under the decentralisation programme.
Of that 52, just 19 are existing Enterprise Ireland staff with the remaining applications coming from other Government Departments.
“ It is too early to comment definitively on a timescale for the transfer of Enterprise Ireland’s headquarters to Shannon.
“The timing of the major move of Enterprise Ireland staff to Shannon Town is dependent on having sufficient, suitably qualified and experienced people opting to transfer to Shannon, within the terms of the Government decision to undertake the work of the areas scheduled for location in Shannon,” the spokesman said.
He added that the State body, working closely with the Office of Public Works (OPW), “had identified but not yet acquired a preferred site in Shannon. The site occupies a prime position near the centre of Shannon and is considered suitable for a major landmark building or civic structure related to the town centre.”