Brian Cowen (Laois-Offaly, Fianna Fail)

The decentralisation implementation group has identified early movers and bodies that can proceed with some degree of speed and in which one can see how the matter can be progressed in the context of property solutions and the staff being trained and transferred to other Departments. It is not a question of everything stopping until everything goes. Some bodies are less problematic and can proceed.

The decentralisation implementation group states candidly that we need a ground-breaking initiative with the State agencies to effect a decentralisation programme that will deliver the objectives and ambitions of the programme. We need staff who have not had a tradition of inter-agency transfer to come to that idea positively in terms of discussion and dialogue, so we can resolve any problems that arise.

In the absence of dialogue, there will not be a resolution because there has never been a tradition of interoperability of staff in the State agencies as there has been in the Civil Service. That tradition has been adopted and promoted by Civil Service unions on the basis that there is a significant demand from staff to move to these locations. The question is how one achieves the skillsets and the fit to meet the requirements of the situation, and what training and relocation issues are identified.

We always realised that this was not a simple matrix in which people asked why they were not getting from A to Z more quickly. Therefore, we need to use our IR process in the way it was used when the first decentralisation programme was initiated and there was resistance from certain parts of the service. At that time, we worked out solutions to some of the difficulties. Situations may arise where it will be more difficult to find solutions than in other situations but we will use the IR process to proceed because that is how every IR issue will be resolved, given the level of change that is envisaged.

With regard to the position of the ODA section, I am not aware of the detail of court cases or related issues. However, the Department of Foreign Affairs, its Secretary General and the staff who manage the ODA section are working to find how they can relocate to Limerick as quickly as possible. There may be staff who want to delay that process and will use whatever mechanism they can to do so.

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