Pat Rabbitte (Dublin South West, Labour)

The Taoiseach is confusing what is happening, presumably deliberately. We are talking about transferring entire Departments, and there is no point in confusing that with the fact that there have been applications from civil servants already outside Dublin to return to their town or village of origin. That is a different matter, and it ought to be facilitated in the Civil Service.

The Taoiseach is proposing to transfer Departments out of the capital lock, stock and barrel, contrary to the entire literature on the issue. Most people who have read and studied the issue have made clear that removing the brain of the Civil Service from ready access to Ministers will damage the coherence of Government. Anyone who knows anything about the matter will agree that one needs access to the key people.

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