Bertie Ahern (Dublin Central, Fianna Fail)

That is what will happen. Officials in the Department of the Taoiseach are transferring to other Departments, in Dublin or elsewhere, which are to be decentralised. They are doing that because it is the only way they can position themselves for decentralisation, and that is fair enough. The percentage of staff at each grade in the Department of the Taoiseach to have applied is as follows. Some 28% of staff at assistant principal level have applied, as have 17% of staff at higher executive officer level, 53% of staff at administrative officer level, 38% of staff at executive officer level, 14% of staff at staff officer level and 19% of staff at clerical officer level. That is happening across Departments.

While it will take time to go through the system and we will not complete the process in three years, it is patently obvious that there is a demand among people in the Civil Service to move to other locations. It will take time for that to happen because new sites have to be acquired and offices have to be built, and all that is being done. Some 45 officials in the Department of the Taoiseach, or 22% of the total, have put themselves on the list so that they can ultimately be decentralised.

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