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| The Tánaiste and Minister for Finance, Brian Cowen T.D. |
In December 2003, in advance of the announcement of Budget 2004, the then Minister for Finance Charlie McCreevy, produced a plan for the greatest reform of the Irish public service in decades. True to Irish reform planning, it was a back-of-the-envelope job and its motivation was to deliver a political stroke in advance of local elections in 2004.
On Budget Day, when McCreevy pulled his rabbit out of a hat with the announcement of the planned decentralisation of 10,600 public sector staff from Dublin, Ministers had already got the plum pickings for their constituencies. Whole departments were to be transferred with the objectives of the Government's spatial development strategy, junked.
Towns like Clonakilty, West Cork, had hit the jackpot because of their luck in having "one of their own" in the Cabinet. The old style gombeenism operating parallel with a modern Irish economy, soon began to unravel as staff, including many with partners in non-public sector jobs, refused to move. Charlie McMcCreevy wanted to have up to 400 Revenue staff in the key Information Technology area, move to Kildare Town, in his constituency. The Revenue objected as it would lose key staff and wanted to ensure that the central computer and its back-up systems are kept within 28km of each other. This year, the Labour Court ruled that State agency FAS cannot make promotions conditional on the staff being prepared to relocate from Dublin to Birr, in the constituency of the current Minister for Finance.
The decentralisation programme is being hailed a success even though only 1,500 civil servants have moved to decentralised posts from Dublin.
More than 2,000 jobs will have been filled by the end of the year and just half of the applications to fill the 10,600 posts to be moved out of Dublin under the plan, have come from Dublin-based civil and public servants.
The Tánaiste and Minister for Finance, Brian Cowen, TD, published a report on Monday, submitted to him by the Decentralisation Implementation Group (DIG) chaired by Finbarr Flood. The recommendations in the report have been accepted by the Government.
The Tánaiste noted the Group’s view that progress is well advanced in relation to the civil service aspects of the programme.
The Tánaiste stated that “the success of the programme can judged from the fact that decentralisation is now a reality in 29 new locations and that over 2,000 civil and public servants will have relocated to 33 locations by the end of 2007.”
He added “In the Programme for Government we committed to the implementation of the decentralisation programme. While I am satisfied with the progress reported so far, I am anxious to ensure that the momentum of the programme is maintained and developed”. Cowen noted the updated property timeframes from the OPW (Office of Public works) and indicated that he would be asking his ministerial colleagues to review these timeframes in association with the OPW and the DIG to assess where earlier progress could be made either in relation to permanent or advance accommodation.
The Tánaiste acknowledged the remaining challenges identified by the DIG in its latest report and confirmed that his Department and the wider management of the public service will continue to work closely with staff representatives to seek appropriate solutions to address the concerns of the professional & technical staff and those employed in state agencies, while also ensuring the delivery of the Government programme.
Cowen confirmed that the Government is determined to make significant progress towards advancing the State Agency elements of the programme during the lifetime of this administration. The Tánaiste noted the remarks of the DIG that over 1,000 employees of State agencies have expressed a preference on the CAF to relocate with either another public service or civil service organisation and it is not unreasonable that these applicants would expect that their applications would have been advanced at this stage. He added that the recent Labour Court recommendation in relation to FAS provides both unions and management with a fresh opportunity to address this issue constructively and that his Department is actively seeking to get discussions underway with ICTU on the range of industrial relations issues involved.
The Tánaiste also advised that the Chairman of the Revenue Commissioner had written to him outlining some business continuity issues regarding the relocation of that Office’s full ICT function to Kildare Town. The Tánaiste has agreed in principle to an alternative mix of posts for the Kildare location and has asked the Chairman of the Revenue Commissioners to submit a formal proposal for the sourcing of those posts.
The Tánaiste also confirmed that the Minister for Defence has decided to increase the number of Defence Force personnel relocating to the Curragh from 300 to 413. The number of Defence Force personnel moving to Newbridge will also increase to 43 which is a small increase in the numbers from that previously proposed.
The report by the DIG can be viewed at www.decentralisation.gov.ie
