In spite of the positive response by the Taoiseach, Mr Ahern, to the latest report by the Government's Decentralisation Implementation Group, it is clear that elements of the programme, as laid down by the outgoing Minister for Finance, Mr McCreevy, last December, are unlikely to be implemented.
That is as it should be. The programme was announced without consultation or any proper planning and its faults and shortcomings must be recognised and acted upon if damage is not to be caused to the administration of this State.
The Implementation Group provided the Government with a deal of positive advice. It found a good basis for moving forward with the implementation process because 35 per cent of the available jobs had been applied for by Dublin-based civil servants. And it believed that "joined-up government" should not suffer as a result of decentralisation. Final judgment on that issue must wait until September, however, when information becomes available concerning the number of senior staff prepared to move within the policy-making sections of the eight affected Departments. Then there was bad news. The Implementation Group identified particular difficulties in relation to the transfer of State agencies out of Dublin. And it suggested the overall programme could not be implemented within the three-year timescale originally laid down.
Mr McCreevy did the sensible thing when he received the report and left it to his successor to clean up the mess. A statement issued by his Department said the Minister would advise the Government on its findings following the summer break. By then, however, he will be preparing to represent Ireland in Brussels while Mr Ahern will be giving thought to a Cabinet reshuffle. In any event, nothing is likely to happen until September when further data on the numbers willing to transfer becomes available from the Central Applications Facility and from an interview process conducted by the secretaries general of Departments.
A "big bang" approach to decentralisation was rejected as neither feasible nor desirable. The Implementation Group recommended a phased approach, in order to minimise any disruption of services. And it noted it would take three years to construct and fit out a large office building. Those observations have destroyed any possibility of the programme being implemented before the coming general election, as was originally intended. The report also left open the possibility of abandoning the transfer of at least some State bodies and the policy-making sections of Government Departments.
The stated mission of the Implementation Group is to facilitate the successful implementation of Government policy. Because of that, the expert advice - and the warnings - given to the Oireachtas Committee on Finance last week about the dangers posed to good governance by the fragmentation of policy-making should be given particular weight.