Pat Rabbitte (Dublin South West, Labour)

I watched "The Tubridy Show" with fascination. Old friends are best. What does the Taoiseach have to say to the FÁS staff, of which only a small fraction is prepared to transfer? What is it about the probation and welfare service that makes any of the specialised agencies different? Does the Taoiseach acknowledge the finding of the Farrell Grant Sparks report that showed that the cost of replacing staff ranged between €51 million and €65 million? Is it not true that serious damage will be done to the way Government does its business in this small country, with senior civil servants criss-crossing the country merely because it is convenient today to locate the headquarters of a Department to where today's Minister happens to live? We know this will not last for very much longer. Does it mean that we change the headquarters of a Department every time the Minister changes?

It is not working and I am sure the Taoiseach will get someone to facilitate another interview with him so that he can back down further than he did the last time. As far as I can see, the last climbdown only extended to a tacit admission that the agencies cannot be transferred and that he is pretending that while the rest of it is intact, it will take a longer period. He very well knows that, as currently planned, it is not workable, is damaging to the coherence of Government and is uprooting families.

The Taoiseach told the House to read what Robert Putnam wrote and said that he is very concerned about uprooting communities. He is uprooting families in these circumstances who have put down roots in this city, have children in education, have spouses in other employments — often in the private sector — and he is proposing that they be scattered like Smarties to 53 different centres. That is not decentralisation; it is merely dispersal of civil servants for blatant political purposes.

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