Bertie Ahern (Dublin Central, Fianna Fail)

——but I am sorry if I upset Deputy Rabbitte's weekend and that he thought I would get it finished by Christmas when I replied to him last week. That was not my intention when I replied to him.

The original timescale set for the programme when it was announced was very ambitious. It was to be done within three years, requiring the full and active co-operation of all the parties involved. It has become clear that some issues which surfaced will take a considerable period to resolve. However, setting ambitious targets was the best way to drive the programme forward. If we did not do that, we would not have made so much progress.

All the civil servants in the various areas are moving. We have made some changes along the way. The implementation group has produced a number of reports. Last week it announced that the probation officers would not be decentralised to Navan but that other sections of the Department will be decentralised. There has been a number of such instances. The Department of Justice, Equality and Law Reform has proposed that in addition to the headquarters of the probation and welfare service, a number of other organisations will move to Navan, such as the national property service regulatory authority, the coroners agency and a new human resources unit. We have made a number of such announcements where the original staff units have been switched to other units.

There is huge interest in the programme and we will continue to implement it as stated. There is no lack of interest on the part of civil servants but there is on the part of public servants. That is a difficulty we will have to deal with. We will, however, do it in conjunction with the Civil Service unions. I thank them for their patience and diligent work in which they have engaged with us on the programme. It will continue with the Minister for Finance, Deputy Cowen, the Minister of State at the Department of Finance, Deputy Parlon, and the rest of the Government.

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