A plan by the Department of Finance to restrict all promotions in the Civil Service to staff willing to move to decentralised offices has been dropped in the face of union opposition.
A compromise proposal under which some, but not all, promotions would be linked to decentralisation was put to union leaders at a meeting yesterday. It is anticipated that unions will accept the new proposal.
They had threatened to withdraw all co-operation with the decentralisation programme unless the original plan, put forward in December, was dropped.
The department had proposed that all future Civil Service vacancies "be filled by persons willing to move to a decentralised location until all decentralised posts, and any consequent vacancies in existing provincial offices, have been filled".
Unions said the move would eliminate promotion opportunities for Dublin-based civil servants for years to come.
In a new discussion paper put to the unions yesterday, the department said "appropriate promotion opportunities in Dublin" should be maintained.
It proposed new procedures which largely mean that promotions involving a transfer between Government Departments would be made on the basis of the appointee "agreeing to move to a post in a decentralising unit or existing provincial office".
However, internal promotions within Government Departments would, with some exceptions, continue as normal.
The exceptions would be made in the case of departments due to decentralise within a year of appointments being made.
Department decentralising in their entirety would, for the final 52 weeks before relocation, limit promotions to staff prepared to make a written commitment to move to the new location.
In departments down for partial decentralisation, half of promotions during the final year before relocation would be made on the same basis.
Under a temporary arrangement put in place last year, those transferring between departments are already required to sign up to decentralisation.
About 40 per cent of promotions are filled in this way, and this would rise to 50 per cent under the arrangements outlined yesterday.
The new proposals were described as "workable" by the deputy general secretary of the Public Service Executive Union, Tom Geraghty. "I think we can live with them."
Association of Higher Civil and Public Servants general secretary Seán Ó Riordáin said the union would consult members at its annual conference next week before deciding how to respond.
The row over promotions had threatened to delay the entire decentralisation programme, involving the transfer of more than 10,000 staff to 53 locations.
Minister for Finance Brian Cowen told Cabinet colleagues last week he was prepared to impose a solution if agreement on the issue was not reached soon.
In the discussion paper presented yesterday, the department said the new arrangements should be subject to ongoing review to ensure sufficient progress was made "towards the early implementation of the decentralisation programme".