Bertie Ahern (Dublin Central, Fianna Fail)

However, the Deputy is talking about a small hard core, and all Members who have been in Government, including the Deputy, know that policy units are small. That issue is being discussed in the implementation group and it has been put forward by senior civil servants, especially from the higher grades. Their case must be listened to because the process is voluntary and the Government has stated throughout that we will consider such arguments. IMPACT and other Civil Service unions, including the Association of Higher Civil and Public Servants, have advanced their views.

On the other side, there are far more people from a large number of sections, including large portions of, if not all, Departments, who want to move. The restructuring of levels the Deputy mentioned is proceeding without any great disruption to Departments or units in the Civil Service. We are not trying to move 10,000 people over the next two years. We are dealing instead with perhaps 2,500 — a much more manageable number. That is what the implementation group is doing, and I believe it will succeed.

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