No appetite for decentralisation, admits Ahern

TAOISEACH Bertie Ahern conceded yesterday there was “no appetite” within State agencies to decentralise.

His colleague, Minister of State Tom Parlon, insisted “very sophisticated industrial relations machinery” was being used to work out the problems with the planned decentralisation programme.

But, on the issue of the reluctance of civil servants to relocate, the junior minister was forced to admit: “I don’t know what the solution is.”

Meanwhile, trade union IMPACT claimed decentralisation will cost the taxpayer up to €65 million yearly to replace specialist civil servants who remained in Dublin “with no obvious role”.

The union demanded a fundamental overhaul of the planned scheme.

In a policy document, IMPACT suggested Government departments and agencies should be removed from the programme in cases where decentralisation was no longer practical or cost-effective.

It also proposes that certain operations of decentralised agencies should be retained in their original locations.

And the union insisted the timetable for decentralisation must be lengthened in order to solve the problems with the scheme.

The union represents more than 1,200 civil and public servants earmarked for relocation.

Its national secretary Louise O’Donnell said the vast majority of staff said they would not move “under any circumstances”.

“This makes decentralisation impossible in organisations that depend heavily on specialists as they cannot be replaced with non-specialist staff,” she said.

Labour leader Pat Rabbitte claimed the programme, announced in 2003, had degenerated into a shambles, and called for an immediate all-party review.

“It is unworkable, is doing permanent damage to the cohesion of governance and is causing serious, unjustifiable disruption to families who have long put down roots in this city,” Mr Rabbitte told the Dáil.

He queried why a supposedly voluntary scheme had “turned into a compulsory programme of relocation of civil servants and public servants”.

Mr Rabbitte said it was clear that, in some agencies, few were willing to move.

“For those who are determined not to move, they will end up being white-walled in this city with somebody scrounging around to try to find work for them to do. That is utterly unjustifiable,” he said.

The Taoiseach, however, insisted the programme was voluntary, but he admitted promotion prospects were linked to relocation.

“We must be realistic and acknowledge that we cannot move [a department of] 99 public or civil servants and leave one to remain in Dublin, and somehow that person can expect to stay and be promoted.

“That is an unrealistic argument.

“If a civil servant does not want to leave this city, he or she must transfer to another department and follow a career path there. A civil servant cannot hold up the relocation of a department.”

Mr Ahern said the Government would continue to work with the unions.

But he conceded: “I readily admit there has been no appetite within the State agencies to move out of Dublin. The figures on the take-up in that regard have been very small.”