Michael Ring (Mayo, Fine Gael)

The Minister raised decentralisation within the Department. In the committee, I brought up the question of the Garda PULSE computer system, which is to be dealt with in Mayo. Many people from the Minister's Department working in Dublin have applied to decentralise to Castlebar, but at present the Department will not accept applications from them. People come to my colleagues and me saying that they are settled where they work in Dublin. In the past, when decentralised took place, a new section was set up rather than moving the whole Department out of Dublin.

We will have a problem with people who have children at school and husbands or wives who work in the city. They are afraid that their opportunities for promotion will be stifled simply because they are unable to move to Carrick-on-Shannon, Donegal town, Buncrana or Carrickmacross. They will be left behind and the Minister must set their minds at rest regarding what will happen to them if they do not move with their Departments. They must be reassured that promotion opportunities will not be denied them and told where they will go and what jobs await them.

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