Civil servants to get €50m for ‘nothing’

THE State will end up paying €50 million a year to professional civil servants for doing nothing unless Junior Finance Minister Tom Parlon can find them meaningful work in Dublin, the IMPACT trade union warned yesterday.

The 850 specialist grade civil servants - mainly engineers, architects, professional valuers and Third World community development experts - do not want to move out of Dublin under Mr Parlon’s decentralisation plan. Most of these work with the Department of the Environment, which is being decentralised to Wexford, and the Department of Foreign Affairs section, which is being moved to Limerick.

Both Mr Parlon and the Taoiseach gave a commitment to civil servants who do not want to move outside Dublin that “meaningful jobs” would be found for those who wish to stay, said IMPACT national secretary Peter Nolan.

“But the problem is that these specialist professional grades cannot be easily transferred to other departments in Dublin like general civil servants because you cannot turn an engineer into an architect,” he said.

Mr Parlon will face an angry group of 850 professional servants at the IMPACT Health and Civil Service Biennial conference in Kilkenny, who want to know what jobs the Government has for them.

“They are furious at the notion they might be sitting in an office in Dublin doing nothing because the minister has not thought this plan through. As an employer, the Government has a duty of care to ensure that the professionals can maintain their skills,” said Mr Nolan.

IMPACT brought this problem to the attention of Philip Flynn, who compiled the report on decentralisation 18 months ago. “Since then there has been a wall of silence from Minister Parlon even after IMPACT told a Dáil committee that the cost of leaving these professional civil servants idle for a year would be €50m,” Mr Nolan said.

Mr Parlon will be told that 85% of IMPACT’s Health and Civil Service grades do not want to move outside Dublin and the debate will also include a motion calling for industrial action. Mr Parlon’s spokes-man could not be reached for comment last night.

Meanwhile, Health Minister Mary Harney looks set to face criticism when she addresses the IMPACT Health and Civil Service Biennial Conference tomorrow. The union is opposed to introduction of more private health provision because it claims it will harm public health services.

Ms Harney believes the private sector must be encouraged to get involved in health service provisions to end hospital waiting lists.