Bertie Ahern (Dublin Central, Fianna Fail)

The staff numbers will be the same, although we have to achieve a small reduction every year. Under the Department of Finance's guidelines, we have to try to achieve a 3% reduction every year over a three-year period. I am sure that approach will continue into the future. For the past two years, departmental officials who want to participate in the decentralisation programme have been moving into posts in agencies and Departments which are to be moved. People who have decided to stay in Dublin — they may be from Dublin or elsewhere — have usually made such decisions based on their age and the ages of their family members. Such people are filling the posts which are being vacated. These changes are taking place in the public service in an organised way. Some people might argue that the pace of change is slow, but it is not possible to do it in any other way with the staff associations. People are leaving jobs which are not due to be decentralised. Some positions in the Department of the Taoiseach will not be decentralised, although jobs in two areas will be moved to new locations. People in other agencies who do not want to move from Dublin are filling positions in my Department. The programme is working on an organised basis and will continue to do so over a period of time. I understand that approximately 1,000 people are already on the move. That number will increase progressively over a number of years.

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