Promotion seen as key to relocation

The only way the planned decentralisation programme will succeed is if the Government is prepared to offer promotion to those public and civil servants who relocate under the programme.

That was the view expressed by the Civil and Public Servant Union's general secretary, Mr Blair Horan, who said yesterday if the Government wanted the programme to work, it would have to offer promotion to staff.

Addressing the CPSU's annual delegate conference in Ennis yesterday, Mr Horan said: "The Government has to do this to get enough people interested. But the political will is so strong, I believe that the Government is prepared to pay the price at the end of the day."

In his address, Mr Horan warned that the Government must guarantee the futures of civil and public servants who do not wish to move under the decentralisation, to secure the co-operation of the CPSU.

Mr Horan said: "It is as an absolute prerequisite for the union's co-operation in the programme that those workers in Dublin and Cork who do not wish to move, that they have a right to a job near where they are currently working and that they have a proper career structure in place."

Mr Horan condemned the manner in which the Government has handled the proposed decentralisation programme.

He said: "We are not satisfied that we are being treated as an equal partner by Government." Mr Horan stressed, however, that the CPSU is generally supportive of the decentralisation plan.

At its conference, the CPSU published a report which outlined the level of support for the programme.

It showed there is a clear divide among union members in attitudes towards the programme.

In the report, Mr Horan states that a significant proportion of Dublin-based members wish to remain and work in the capital.

He said: "The current level of decentralisation creates a high level of apprehension and fear in the context of surplus staff and its consequent effect on career and promotional opportunities in Dublin."

Mr Horan said: "It is very evident that there are significant numbers of members within roughly an 80-mile radius of Dublin who are commuting to Dublin on a daily basis and who wish to return and work in their home location."

He added: "However, it is equally clear that for locations in the south and west that the main interest in the programme is from people already in the general area who wish to move to a new location."

Later at yesterday's conference, CPSU members gave the green light for exploratory merger talks with IMPACT to create a new public service and civil service "super union".

The decision by a sizeable majority of CPSU members follows a similar decision made by IMPACT delegates at their annual conference in Tralee on Thursday.