There has been a deafening silence from the Government and the Minister of State in charge of decentralisation, Noel Ahern, concerning a Labour Court ruling that could scupper plans to relocate State agencies to the regions. The court decided that promotion within FÁS should not be made conditional on a willingness to transfer out from Dublin, as this did not accord with the voluntary nature of the decentralisation scheme.
The decision should be used by the Government to carry out a fundamental review of its decentralisation proposals. The back-of-an-envelope style of planning adopted by former minister for finance, Charlie McCreevy, in 2003 has been dreadfully exposed as a political gimmick. Now is the time, at the outset of a new term of office, for Ministers to carry out a full-scale review of the financial and administrative implications of the programme involving both public and civil servants. We cannot afford to lose specialist knowledge and efficiency.
For the past number of years Siptu has been calling on the government to withdraw all State agencies from the decentralisation programme as the workers involved have different conditions of employment from civil servants, who can transfer freely between departments. The union represents about 50 per cent of employees in 23 semi-State bodies where resistance to decentralisation plans has been particularly intense.
A greater willingness to transfer exists within the civil service. But, even there, more than 3,000 staff members - the great bulk of them drawn from senior management - are still refusing to move with their departments. Anger is growing as they see others being recruited and trained to do their jobs. Apart from the loss of corporate knowledge involved in this process, some financial assessment should be conducted into the long-term cost of retaining surplus civil servants in unproductive jobs in Dublin.
Decentralisation is an attractive idea. Over the years, it worked well in transferring limited functions of government departments to rural towns. The exercise benefited the local economies and improved the quality of life for many civil servants, in terms of commuting and cheaper housing. But the half-baked decision to transfer the headquarters of eight departments out of Dublin has been fiercely resisted. Senior civil servants regard the moves as unjust. Fewer than one in four are co-operating with the arrangements. It is time for the Government to take stock. Minister for Finance Brian Cowen has overall control of the project. As taoiseach-in-waiting, he has a particular interest in getting things right and ensuring that civil and public servants operate to maximum efficiency.