Brian Cowen (Laois-Offaly, Fianna Fail)

Let us be clear about this. The decentralisation programme is available to everyone. If it is characterised as an administrative relocation, people from all parts of the country who work in the public service and may wish to get closer to home are entitled to apply in the same way as everyone else. The important point is that the posts that would have been created within the Dublin area in non-decentralised mode through retirement or promotion are decentralised. If someone relocates from one destination to another outside Dublin, that vacancy can be taken up by someone who wishes to relocate from Dublin.

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