Willie O'Dea (Limerick East, Fianna Fail)

The Department will have no difficulty in moving civil servants to Roscrea, as more than 100 have expressed an interest in taking up the 30 places there. So far only ten have transferred as there is only accommodation for that number. Those 30 civil servants will be transferred and working happily in Roscrea before the end of the year. The 78 who have expressed an interest in transferring to Newbridge are civil servants serving in the Department of Defence. This figure is out of a total of 200 personnel who are to be transferred under the programme, which, in comparison to other Departments, is a relatively high take-up. Retraining will not involve Army officers but civilian staff. It is acknowledged that civil servants can easily move from one section to another.

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