Decentralisation promise 4% fulfilled as deadline passes

ONLY 4% of the 10,000 civil servants earmarked for decentralisation had actually transferred out of Dublin at the beginning of this month, the date by which the entire programme was to be completed.

A meeting of the Oireachtas Finance Committee heard yesterday that between 700-800 civil servants have moved location to date, about half of whom (350-400) have decentralised from Dublin.

Labour’s finance spokesperson Joan Burton, who raised the issue contended that former Finance Minister Charlie McCreevy vowed that all 10,000 posts would be decentralised by December 2006, the third anniversary of his December 2003, Budget Day announcement.