Equality Authority: The report on the Equality Authority released yesterday, showed the body's intended move from Dublin to Roscrea received the thumbs down from all of its employees.
Not one of the authority's staff indicated even the slightest willingness to relocate, with over 80 per cent saying the move would either be "dangerous" or "very dangerous".
The Equality Authority, established in 1999 to work towards the elimination of discrimination, as well as promotion of equal opportunities in the workplace, claims in its report on decentralisation that the proposed move will have a significant impact on staff morale.
With it being a body with a highly skilled and specialised staff, the report highlighted potential severe difficulties in adequately replacing staff members not wishing to relocate.
Indeed, the report states that any large-scale replacement of staff could expose the Equality Authority to legal prosecution.
Many staff declared the move to Roscrea would have a negative impact on future career opportunities, as well as causing major disruption to their work/life balance.
From the organisation's perspective, the major difficulties lie in the fact that the "majority of our customers are Dublin-based,and it would inhibit them from having a comprehensive customer service."
The distance between Roscrea and the Labour Court, and the Equality Tribunal which is relocating to Portarlington, was also described as problematic.
Ultimately, the move was described as "potenially very disruptive to the work of the Equality Authority, and it would present a huge challenge to rectify that dissruption."
Daniel McConnell
Dept of Agriculture: The Department of Agriculture and Food could face serious instability problems in decentralisation by losing key staff to other departments, its implementation plan said.
Agriculture and Food, which is the most decentralised department of Government with 75 per cent of its staff located outside Dublin, said these staff would be eligible to move to other departments.
"Because of the risk of losing key staff, this in itself could lead to serious instability problems for us in areas of high expertise, such as Cavan, Wexford and Castlebar where very complex functions are being managed," said its plan.
Listing special factors which affected it, the Department said that an important part of its method of operation was the management of EU schemes and implementing policy which must be agreed at EU level in negotiating sessions in Brussels.
"This represents a significant amount of our activity generally. Having most of these people based in Portlaoise, rather than in Dublin adjacent to the airport, will make the servicing of meetings which take place on a regular basis in Brussels much more time consuming and costly," said the report.
"It is clear that very significant risks to the services provided by the Department may arise from the decentralisation programme," it said.
"The main concern during the implementation phase will be the loss of experienced staff and a sound knowledge and skills base.
The scale of risk in this phase will only become apparent when we know the level of staff turnover which will be involved - indicated by the percentage of the Department's Dublin staff who volunteer for Portlaoise and the percentage of staff in other locations who opt to stay where they are," it said.
Seán Mac Connell
Dept of Defence: A number of "major staff-related issues" are involved in the decentralisation of the Department of Defence to Newbridge, Co Kildare.
"The considerable body of internal-corporate knowledge which will depart with those staff not opting to move to Newbridge, and the time it will take for replacement staff to acquire such knowledge, is probably the most significant risk," says the Department.
"As an initial step towards addressing this difficulty, comprehensive job guides and manuals will be vital: where no such documents exist at present, their preparation should start immediately, and existing guides will need to be examined critically with a view to redesign with the needs of new staff, not familiar with Defence business and culture, in mind.
"The requirement to compensate for the anticipated loss of a large element of the existing staff at middle and senior management levels, whose corporate knowledge has been acquired over considerable time spent dealing with complex policy and administrative issues and processes, will require imaginative and innovative alternative planning.
"The training and development of staff joining the organisation will be crucial."
The Department believes that Newbridge as a location might encourage some existing staff to remain with the Department and to commute from their current address.
Michael O'Regan
Dept of Education: Preliminary indications based on a survey suggest that a small minority of staff based in Dublin are prepared to decentralise with the Department of Education and Science to Mullingar and Athlone. "Of the staff currently working in Athlone and Tullamore, over 100 people have indicated that they are interested in relocating from the Department. There will also be inter-Department transfers from existing decentralised locations, e.g. from Tullamore to Mullingar, from Athlone to Mullingar and Tullamore."
It was also likely that the regional offices would have a significant turnover of staff in view of the proximity of new locations countrywide which might be viewed as providing potentially more attractive career prospects.
A strategy had been put in place to provide an intensive training programme for all new staff coming into the Department. This would be aligned to the overall training plan being developed centrally.
The Department notes that "the objective is to flatten out the learning curve and ensure that new staff coming into the Deparment are effective as soon as possible".
Potentially, "a great deal of corporate knowledge" could be lost on decentralisation. "The impact this will have on the business of running the education system has to be managed."
Michael O'Regan
Dept of the Gaeltacht: A key risk in the decentralisation of the Department of Community, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs is the "loss of corporate knowledge and skills", according to the Department. A particular risk, says the Department, for the "institutional memory" of the Department would be the loss of significant numbers of staff over a very short time.
"The loss of key policy analysis skills, in terms of the national and EU issues that this Department has responsibility for, is also a risk and is addressed in the context of this plan."
Michael O'Regan
Probation Service: The Probation and Welfare Service said that its key relationships with clients will be difficult to maintain if the office is moved to Navan.
The intended relocation is also likely to place strain on its working relationships between the Department of Justice, the Courts and the Prison's Service.
The report concludes that the move will "lead to a decline in response of the service to major customers and a reduction in level of accessibility to the service by clients and their families." There would also be a reduction in the level of supervision of offenders, as well as a significant increase in the cost of travelling to the new headquarters in Meath.
It is reported that there is likely to be a high turnover of staff within the service as a large majority of the 71 strong team said they were against the move.
"Due to the specialised nature of the work carried out by the service, there is little possibility of the posts being filled in the Navan area by other professional grades.
"In order for the move to take place, in excess of 60 professional grade staff members would have to volunteer to transfer" the report said. No such interest has been expressed.
The report also stressed that some office in Dublin must be maintained to allow important administrative work in relation to the Courts to be carried out.
Daniel McConnell
Prison Service: The relocation of the Irish Prison Service's Headquarters to Longford could be "detrimental to the proper daily operation of the prison system", according to the report on decentralisation.
Any potential loss of staff or expertise during the proposed move could jeopardise the security of prisoners during transfer or the releasing of figures. The service's move is likely to present a "significant challenge" to the service.
The report stated that the move from their current headquarters in Clondalkin would result in sizeable and significant losses, as many of the staff do not wish to move.
It said that the success of the move will very much depend on the willingness of staff not moving to pass on their expertise to those who will be taking their posts in Longford.
The report also suggested that the move could have a serious impact on staff morale and job performance.
Daniel McConnell
Dept of Justice: The 200 staff working in part of the asylum and immigration area of the Department of Justice will have a number of perks if they decide to move to Tipperary town.The Department says that it may be possible to provide child care facilities, subject to the findings of the report of an interdepartmental committee. It notes that the Office of the Refugee Applications Commissioner (ORAC) are currently located in Dublin, "the country's transport hub", close to shops, restaurants and other amenities.
"As applicants will find travelling to Tipperary more difficult, and have fewer amenities in the area, enhanced on-site facilities will be required for applicants attending the office for interview.
"Food services or a canteen, child care facilities and a waiting area suitable for long periods will be required.
"The issue of overnight accommodation in the vicinity will also need to be considered to ensure attendance at morning interviews."
During this transition period, the service provided to applicants, other asylum organisations, NGOs and other customers of the organisation will inevitably suffer.
Michael O'Regan