Brendan Howlin (Wexford, Labour) | Oireachtas source

We want to facilitate mobility as far as possible. There has been extraordinary mobility in recent years under the Croke Park agreement. More than 10,000 staff have moved. Needless to say, however, it can be complicated where there are pressure points and surplus staff. For example, I dealt with one case over the summer where there was pressure on the Garda vetting unit in Tipperary. There were surplus Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine staff in Tipperary, 25 of whom moved into the vetting unit. That sort of mobility is being facilitated.

Long distance mobility is a bit more problematic but it should not be an insurmountable issue. I have dealt with cases myself, although I am trying not to deal with individual cases. There will be very good staff whom line managers are reluctant to let go, and that is understandable. There will be cases where a particular skills set is available that cannot be replicated by somebody just moving in, and people are unwilling to let them go. There is also a grading issue and people may even say they will drop a grade to get to a place.