Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour)

As regards the Minister's statement about clearer time lines for the sequencing of moves and transfers out of Dublin, is that coded language for saying that the decentralisation programme will take longer than the three years advertised in the budget? What are the clearer time lines? Is the Minister talking about the ten year period which has frequently been described as the time required? Is he aware of surveys carried out in a number of Departments that indicate that only approximately 7% to 10% of civil servants in FÁS, the Department of Agriculture and Food, the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment and other Departments are willing to move out of Dublin? If those surveys are representative or if the Minister wants to challenge them, will he carry out independent surveys? However, if those surveys are a correct reflection of attitudes to decentralisation, will the taxpayer have to foot the bill for the hundreds of civil servants who will be left in Dublin with no clear function? What will the Minister do with those civil servants? Will there be penalties if people fail to transfer? I draw the Minister's attention to the recent advertisement for a senior post in the Department of Justice, Equality and Law Reform which stated that the applicant must be willing to serve outside Dublin. Perhaps the Minister will comment on that.

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