Government to spend €50m less on decentralisation plan

THE Government will spend €50 million less on its decentralisation programme this year than it provided for in the Budget.

However, the Department of Finance yesterday insisted the drop in expenditure could not be taken as a downgrading of the politically sensitive project.

The Finance spokesman told the Irish Examiner that less money will be spent to decentralise Government departments than envisaged last December due to a number of factors. One was timing - some projects will not need money to be released until 2007. In addition, the spokesman said, some properties will be leased rather than bought; a “very competitive tendering process had also led to some savings”.