John Paul Phelan (Carlow-Kilkenny, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

The Senator has raised a valid point. Ultimately we are seeking volunteers. I believe we will fill most these positions with volunteers who wish to transfer. Normal industrial relations processes will apply and I have no intention of trying to strong-arm people who live in Skibbereen. Those areas will still be in County Cork. They have their own municipal district structure, which we want to strengthen and give more funding to. I am not in a position to give absolutes other than to say that the provisions of the Bill are aimed at ensuring that staffing numbers match population into the future. We, as in whoever is in my position in future, would cause industrial relations havoc if there was a proposal to move people from the furthest extremes of County Cork to jobs based in the city. We have no intention of doing so, nor would we be allowed to.

On the day when people have just made the decision to submit their request for a transfer to be considered, I cannot go into specifics about the numbers because I do not know them. It will be a matter for the implementation group statutorily under this Bill to determine the numbers of positions to move, based primarily, but not exclusively, on population.After that, the normal industrial procedures will kick in and it will be neither acceptable nor appropriate for anyone in my position to request people make a journey. I remember my former colleague in the other House, Paddy Sheehan, who was a Deputy for 30 years. When I was a new Senator he used to tell me that when he left Goleen to come to Dublin, that by the time he got to Mitchelstown in County Cork he was more than half way to Dublin and he was still in County Cork. The point made by the Senator is right and valid. We have, however, no proposals to force rural dwellers into the city for jobs.