Bertie Ahern (Dublin Central, Fianna Fail)

I have stated in the House in recent weeks that we cannot implement the programme within the timescale first envisaged but that there are priority areas where advance negotiations with the staff side have been undertaken to move specific sections or units of Departments. That is the clear position, and those plans are moving ahead. They cover approximately 2,500 civil servants from those listed, and that is substantial.

The agencies are different, and I will not complicate matters because they must be handled differently. FÁS reached a resolution last week. We opened the Marine Institute in Galway, which has brought all its professional staff, bar a handful — I believe 20 out of 180. Those highly qualified professionals are successfully being moved from several Dublin locations to Galway, and that can also happen in other agencies. Others will be slower, and I accept Deputy Rabbitte's point that removing a hard core of departmental policy units would create difficulties, especially during parliamentary sessions.

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