Unions say measure is welcome but costs will be 'enormous'

Union reaction Unions last night cautiously welcomed the Government's plan to decentralise 10,000 civil service posts outside Dublin, but warned of "enormous" relocation costs for its members.

The decentralisation programme, originally announced four years ago, is due to begin just months ahead of the local elections in June 2004.

The Minister for Finance said the plan would be applied on a voluntary basis and officials indicated it could be completed within three years or so.

However, unions representing civil servants said it could take up to a decade to complete, due to a shortage of high-ranking civil servants willing to leave the capital.

Union representatives also said they would be seeking substantial relocation fees for their members, even though civil servants will move voluntarily under the scheme.

SIPTU and the three main unions representing civil servants are seeking meetings with the Minister and his officials to clarify details of the plan, which was announced to the surprise of union officials and even some ministers yesterday.

The plan envisages moving the headquarters of eight Government departments and the OPW to locations outside Dublin, leaving seven departments with headquarters in the capital.

Ministers with headquarters outside the capital will be provided with a "suite of offices", close to Leinster House, staffed by a small secretariat.

Almost 50 State agencies or companies, such as Bus Éireann, the National Roads Authority and the Land Registry, will also move to various locations in 25 counties.

The Association of Higher Civil and Public Servants, which represents around 12,000 high-ranking civil servants, said it was important that the posts would be relocated on a voluntary basis, but forecast potential problems in finding sufficient numbers of willing applicants.

"At the lower levels it may not prove that difficult. But the higher up you go, the more people are bedded down and have families and it becomes more of an issue," said Mr Seán Ó Riordáin, the association's general secretary.

However, the Public Services Executive Union, which represents around 9,000 middle-ranking civil servants, warned of major cost implications for the decentralisation programme.

"The cost is going to be enormous.

"It will cost money to relocate people and we'll certainly be looking for these costs to be met by employers," said the PSEU's deputy general secretary, Mr Tom McKevitt.

The Civil and Public Service Union, which represents around 10,000 mostly lower-ranking civil servants, broadly welcomed the plans but expressed concern over whether staff who stay in Dublin will have a reasonable career structure and prospects for promotion.