Trim OPW 'too far gone to be axed"

Far too much money has been committed to the transfer of the Office of Public Works (OPW) headquarters to Trim for it to become a victim of any planned Government cuts in the decentralisation process, a local councillor said this week. Speculation about a possible axing or slowdown in moving Government departments to regional centres has mounted in the past few days in the run-up to the budget next Tuesday, 14th October. However, Trim Fianna Fail councillor Jimmy Fegan said this week that he did not envisage any change to Government plans to move the OPW services to the County Meath town. 'I think the process has gone too far now. It would be futile at this stage to pull the plug on it,' he said, adding that with the main building already constructed and only the fitting out of the headquarters to be completed, it would be expected that the move would go ahead. 'A substantial part of the monies for the OPW building has already been allocated. I don"t see the Trim project becoming a victim of any falter or delay in the decentralisation plan,' he said. Cllr Fegan said that an advance party from the OPW was already ensconced in Trim and 260 people in total had committed themselves to the move. 'I would be appalled if the plug was pulled on it at this stage, and so would our local minister,' he added. A spokesman for the OPW said that tenders for the fitting out of the landmark Trim building had come in and were being evaluated at the present time. It was their hope that a contractor for the fitting out would soon be appointed, he said. However, he added that finance for the project would depend on the upcoming budget and decisions by the Minister for Finance and the Government. The sanction of the Minister for Finance will be required before the fit-out contract can be awarded. The contract for the construction of the shell and core of the landmark circular building at Townspark, Trim, was awarded to Bennett Construction and is already well-advanced. The Government announced in July that it had decided to 'pause' the decentralisation programme but it was confirmed that any projects already under contract would proceed. Pausing the decentralisation process will put certain projects throughout the country in the balance and reports from the Decentralisation Implementation Group and the secretaries-general of the departments concerned are being drawn up. The Trim building had been due to be completed by this month, fitted out next March and ready for occupation by summer next year. An advance office for the OPW already has been set up at Scurlockstown Business Park on the outskirts of Trim. When the headquarters are completed, there will be 330 positions within the OPW available and more than 200 employees have already signed up to the move. That figure includes original OPW staff members, new recruits and employees who have transferred from other Government departments and who want to move to Trim.