Row heats up as union calls for review of decentralisation plan

THE Government moved yesterday to defuse the escalating row over decentralisation by insisting that it was listening to union concerns about moving 10,000 civil servants outside the capital.

One of the main unions concerned called on the Government to review the entire plan, because they said there was a lot of anger about it.

Association of Higher Civil and Public Servants (AHCPS) general secretary Seán O'Riordan said: "No one is listening to our legitimate concerns, not the Department of Finance, nor the Implementation Body nor the Oireachtas Finance Committee."

But a Government spokeswoman insisted yesterday that there is a lot of contact between the unions on the "arrangements" for decentralisation. "It is not correct to say that there is no one listening or talking to the unions on this," she added.

Junior Finance Minister Tom Parlon, who has direct responsibility for implementing the plan, has also rejected the claim that no one was listening and said his door was always open.

The Minister also insisted the plan would not be reviewed and would go ahead over the next three years on a voluntary basis.

Meanwhile, the Government also agreed yesterday to hold discussions on the decentralisation plan at an Oireachtas Committee.

This followed fiery exchanges in the Dáil where the Labour Party threatened to call a series of votes in protest at the rejection by an Oireachtas committee to hold hearings on the issue.

The majority Government representatives on the Oireachtas Finance Committee had voted down the proposal to hold hearings on the decentralisation plan before the local and European elections.

Minister Parlon said on RTÉ yesterday morning that this was due to lack of time.

But Labour accused Mr Parlon of "gross misrepresentation" and insisted that time was not an issue. "Government members of the committee had voted down a proposed review because they did not want a serious public examination of the policy," Labour's Finance spokeswoman Joan Burton said.

Tánaiste Mary Harney said the Oireachtas Finance Committee could debate the issue.

Mr Parlon is expected to further clarify his position today.