Parlon defends decentralisation debate

The Government has given the decentralisation debate a massive airing, a junior minister insisted today, despite civil servants complaining their views were going unheard.

Minister of State at the Finance Department, Tom Parlon, said an Oireachtas Committee on Finance and the Public Service had now reconsidered its decision not to hear the debate several weeks ago.

Mr Parlon said talks around decentralisation would be placed on the agenda next week.

“There’s no conspiracy about it,” Mr Parlon said of the committee’s vote not to discuss decentralisation.

“It would be normal business and I was as surprised as anyone else on that particular day but the AIB issue was a big issue they were dealing with.

“For their own reasons they decided not to deal with it on that day.”

Tánaiste Mary Harney said the Government yesterday agreed to hold two days of hearings on its decentralisation proposals.

The Association of Higher Civil Servants had complained there was no way for it to get its views to the Government.

The decentralisation proposals entail moving some 10,000 civil servants to nine locations outside Dublin.

Some of the ministers in the coalition parties have attributed the slump in Dublin in the local elections to the decentralisation proposals.

Dr Ed Walsh, former President of the University of Limerick, said there was no research to show that government would be improved by being fragmented across the country.

Mr Parlon said Ireland is a small country and the furthest ministry will be only 100 miles away.

“I certainly believe there is a capacity of modern communications systems now and e-government to deal with all of that,” Mr Parlon said.

“We are only talking about 50, 60, 70 miles down the road.”

Dr Walsh said the only other real option was to move the departments to one location outside the capital.