Niall Collins (Limerick West, Fianna Fail)
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Question 196: To ask the Minister for Finance the mechanism that exists for Dublin based civil servants to transfer to the Cork or Kerry region within the civil service; to whom such applications may be made; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [20475/10]

Brian Lenihan Jnr (Dublin West, Fianna Fail)
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Transfers for grades represented by the Civil and Public Services union (mostly Clerical and Staff Officers) are arranged in accordance with formal procedures agreed with the Staff Side at General Council under the Conciliation and Arbitration Scheme for the Civil Service. Officers in these grades seeking a transfer to another Department or location may apply to the Personnel Officer of the Department in which they wish to serve. The names of officers applying for transfer to a location are entered on the particular Department's transfer lists in the order in which they are received. Vacancies which arise are then filled by the Department concerned by reference to these lists.

Transfers for other grades can be arranged on an informal, head-to-head, basis. Such transfers are arranged between the officers seeking to move and the relevant Personnel Units and require the agreement of both Personnel Officers. In addition, a Central Applications Facility (CAF) was established in 2004 and remains open for all staff wishing to apply for posts included in the Decentralisation Programme. Its purpose is:

· to give information about locations and posts;

· to allow certain public servants to apply for transfer to posts at the same or equivalent level in decentralised locations;

· to rank preferences for different locations.

CAF Applications may be made online through http://www.publicjobs.ie/publicjobs/en/caf/default.do

However, the Deputy should note that in light of the budgetary constraints and affordability issues at this time, I have decided to defer proceeding with permanent accommodation in respect of a number of locations. All deferred locations will be considered as part of the overall review of the programme in 2011.