€20m headquarters an ‘uninhabited white elephant’

A €20 MILLION national marine headquarters, planned for West Cork as part of the Government’s decentralisation programme, will become an ‘uninhabited, white elephant,’ a trade union official claimed, yesterday.

Owen Reidy, organiser of SIPTU’s state and related agencies branch, also described the announcement by Taoiseach Bertie Ahern as a political stroke aimed at garnering votes.

Mr Reidy said not one Bord Iascaigh Mhara (BIM) employee had expressed an interest in decentralisation.

However, Mr Ahern said the facility, to be built in Clonakilty, would be completed by 2008 and would accommodate 210 civil and public servants.

While in the town, Mr Ahern also opened new, interim decentralised offices for the Department of the Marine and Natural Resources, where all marine functions of the department, including BIM, will be based.

But Mr Reidy said BIM was already highly decentralised with a presence in Donegal, Galway, Cork, Waterford and Wexford.

“Relocating its HQ to Clonakilty will do nothing for the industry, or the organisation. This is merely a political stroke for the benefit of Government TDs hoping to retain their seats at the next election,” he maintained.

Mr Ahern was accompanied by Marine Minister Noel Dempsey, who said the temporary offices, in the West Cork technology park, outside Clonakilty, would initially accommodate 50 staff who would move in over the coming months.

“Within 12 months, there will be a total of 120 staff from the department and the new Sea Fisheries Protection Authority located in Clonakilty,” the minister stated.

“All of the department’s existing marine and fishery functions will be located in Clonakilty by summer 2007,” Mr Dempsey stated.

Meanwhile, the department dismissed any suggestion that the new chairperson of BIM may have a conflict of interest in relation to the offices in Clonakilty.

The Labour Party yesterday said that the technology park in which the offices are located are owned by the SWS Group.

Party spokesperson on communications and natural resources Tommy Broughan pointed out Ruth McHugh, appointed to the chair of BIM last week, is currently the deputy CEO of the SWS Group.

Yesterday, Mr Broughan said that Ms McHugh was a distinguished Cork businesswoman and a person of integrity.

“However,” he continued, “I seriously question the wisdom and judgement of Minister Dempsey in appointing to the chair of BIM a person who is also involved at such a senior level in a property company that stands to benefit from the transfer of departmental office and potentially from the planned decentralisation of BIM to Clonakilty.”

However, the department responded by saying that no conflict of interest arose.

The spokesperson said Ms McHugh had no conflict of interest in the interim or final decentralisation plans for the department or BIM.