Parlon to report on relocation of agencies

The Government will be forced to clarify tomorrow if the decentralisation of the majority of State agencies can still proceed, in light of the low take-up by workers in that sector.

The priority list for decentralisation over the next two years is dominated by Government departments moving to locations within the commuter belt around Dublin.

Minster of State at the Department of Finance Tom Parlon will appear at the Oireachtas finance committee tomorrow afternoon to discuss the public service decentralisation programme of 10,000 civil servants to 52 locations across the country.

At that meeting, members of the opposition from Fine Gael, Labour and the Green Party will press the minister responsible for the rollout of the programme on the realistic prospects of the entire programme proceeding.

Also, Mr Parlon will be questioned on the timetable of the rollout, as the pledge by the former Minister for Finance, Charlie McCreevy, that it would be complete by 2007 looks impossible.

Before the first anniversary of the announcement, in Budget 2004 last December, the Government will announce the first wave of departments and state agencies to be moved by 2007.

The inclusion on the list of a number of locations way outside the Dublin region will be used by the Government as proof that decentralisation can work and will proceed as planned.

The initial batch of decentralisation is expected to feature: the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment to Carlow; the Department of Social and Family Affairs to Drogheda, Co Louth; the Department of Finance to Tullamore, Co Offaly; the Department of Defence to Newbridge, Co Kildare; the Revenue Commissioners to Kilrush, Co Clare, and Newcastlewest, Co Limerick; the Office of Public Works to Trim, Co Meath; and the Irish Prison Service to Co Longford.

These locations are among the most heavily subscribed by civil servants volunteering to move out of Dublin and sites for office construction are also being lined up in these places.

Since its announcement last year, the decentralisation programme has been the subject of severe criticism from opposition parties and trade unions alike.