Taoiseach to address decentralisation concerns

Taoiseach Bertie Ahern is expected to face tough questions on decentralisation when he attends the annual conference of the IMPACT trade union in Killarney today.

The union is one of several that have been calling on the Government to review the decentralisation scheme due to widespread opposition among workers at state agencies.

The unions say just 1% of workers in bodies like FÁS and Enterprise Ireland are interested in moving from Dublin to new locations in various parts of the country.

Yesterday, Mr Ahern told reporters he would address union concerns about decentralisation in his speech to the IMPACT conference.

He also said the only problem he could see was that more than 10,000 public servants wanted to move and the Government was having difficulty finding ways to meet their wishes.

Meanwhile, Mr Ahern is also expected to refer to the ongoing stalemate in talks on a new national pay deal during his conference speech.