Brian Cowen (Laois-Offaly, Fianna Fail)

I can. These 6,000 posts apply to 40 locations outside Dublin and the other 13 locations will come into play at another time. All these locations to my knowledge are working well. I have heard of no complaint locally from staff, those working to them or those supervising them. All of us know, as the Deputy mentioned, that when the process is completed, the people are in place and the arrangements are made, they will get on with business. There has been no indication of lower productivity and there may even be greater productivity because of the good work environments that are being created for these units in the new locations.

I have met people, as has the Deputy, who can get to work more easily without all the problems and stress that come with that and they are very happy in these locations. They are getting on with their business and people in responsible positions and positions of authority supervise that work. No one in the House has suggested their work is substandard or giving rise to reasons for matters to be brought to the floor of this House in respect of any of those responsibilities. To be fair, we should take from this that there is not the suggested disparity between the work in these locations and anywhere else in the system.

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