THE TWO Fine Gael TDs in Waterford have harshly criticised the decision of Minister for Education Ruairí Quinn to locate the new headquarters for the amalgamated Waterford-Wexford VEC in Co Wexford.
John Deasy and Paudie Coffey have both said the actions of Mr Quinn were motivated by the fact that his Labour colleague and Cabinet colleague, Minister for Public Expenditure Brendan Howlin, is based in Wexford rather than on the criteria.
The assertions were rejected by a spokeswoman for the Department of Education who said that the decision was based solely on the criteria that were laid down for the mergers of VECs. A large number of factors had to be taken into account, she said, such as distance employees had to travel to the new headquarters, the availability of accommodation, existing lease arrangements, and the number of schools and educational facilities in the area. She also rejected the contention that the decisions were political.
Mr Deasy said locating the headquarters in Wexford rather than Waterford was a “a purely political decision” designed to facilitate Mr Howlin. Mr Coffey described the decision as “bizarre” and said it was influenced by the ministerial “hometown” factor.
However, the spokeswoman said the final choice between Dungarvan and Wexford town as a headquarters was a “finely balanced one”.
She said Mr Quinn had taken into account additional factors such as a a larger budget of €34.3 million for Wexford VEC as opposed to €32.6 million for the two VECs in Waterford City and County.