I should like to thank the Minister for Education for taking the Adjournment Debate tonight. The House will remember that in 1977 the programme for decentralisation of the Department of Education was launched successfully with the transfer of the examinations branch of the Department of Education to Athlone. A lot of work was involved in this re-location of such a big section of the Department. Many conciliation and arbitration meetings were held and there were a lot of behind-the-scenes activities before the project was finalised. A lot of hard work was put into the matter in order to get a sufficient number of personnel to transfer to Athlone. Many of those officers accepted the posts in the expectation that their careers would be in the examinations branch in Athlone. From the information supplied to me I understand that the conciliation and arbitration meetings to formalise the transfer programme were extensive.
I should like to refer to some of the memoranda relating to the transfer of the branch. One document stated:
They, in common with the other officers transferred will continue in their present status, i.e. civil servants employed by the Minister for Education. All officers will retain their existing grading and will continue to work in Athlone.
That was the position in 1977. There was pride in the town that this branch was to be based in the town. It was a matter of prestige that the town became known as the examinations centre for the Department of Education. The transfer proceeded from 1977 in a satisfactory manner and the staffing structure today is that there are 129 on the staff in the branch. There are various grades of officials on the staff together with approximately 60 temporary staff who assist in the examination grading and six temporary porters employed from May to about October. The employment of about 200 people in that branch has meant a lot for the town of Athlone. The staff have security of employment but if the branch is allowed to diminish there will be serious implications for the town and its hinterland. The staff fear that their numbers will be reduced greatly or that the branch will cease to be located there.
At present the staff consist of a principal officer, two assistant principals, four HEOs, ten EOs, seven SOs, 11 COs, 72 clerical assistants, eight messengers and 19 watchmen and general operatives. I do not want the Minister to get the idea that we are against progress in the town. A head of an establishment in Dublin last autumn said that the examinations branch in Athlone could not stand like King Canute hoping to hold back the waves but that is not the position. Officials there welcome the age of computerisation that will lead to greater improvement in the processing of examination papers and results. They cannot be accused of standing in the way of progress. I have stated on the radio, television and in speeches that the new curriculum board has my wholehearted support. It is an admirable board and I wish the Minister well in its interim structure. It has a lot to offer our young people. It is no harm to draw attention to the fact that many of the matters to be dealt with by the board were proposed by Deputy John Wilson when as Minister for Education he produced a White Paper on the matter.
We must face the fact that technology will reduce the work force in the branch and that is the fear which has led to the staff to question the Minister about their future. Many questions have been raised about this by the groups representing the staff in Athlone but they have not received a satisfactory answer, apart from being told that their jobs are safe during the interim period of the activities of the examinations board. In the course of a letter to the branch secretary of the Civil and Public Services' Staff Association, the general secretary of the group, following representations concerning the disquiet felt by members after the Taoiseach's Ard-Fheis statement, stated:
With reference to your representations concerning the effect on the staff in the Department's offices in Athlone of the establishment of the proposed Curriculum and Examinations Board, I am to inform you that no change in the status and conditions of the staff of the Examinations Section is envisaged for the early stages of the operation of the board.
It was identified that "the early stages" would mean approximately two years. The general secretary also told the Athlone branch that discussions would be initiated in due course.
The only type of guarantee those officials have been given is that in the early stages of the change their jobs are secure. While the officials welcome the changes their fear about the results is well founded. Many of them moved to Athlone after a lot of deliberation and thought. Many young people living in Dublin sought to return to their home towns under the Fianna Fáil decentralisation programme. Some of them for family reasons needed to return home and they contributed greatly to the economic well-being of the area. However, they are in a period of uncertainty now. Members of the examination branch have put forward a reasonable suggestion and it is my intention to submit it to the Minister. I do not expect the Minister to respond to it tonight but I trust that she will give it close attention. It is one which was envisaged when Fianna Fáil were in power between 1981 and 1982 and proposed further decentralisation. Circular E.142/32/81 gave the current position at 1 November 1982, and mentioned the various decentralisation programme centres and services, the first being Athlone. I am not talking about the 1977 decentralisation but the advanced programme of further decentralisation which Fianna Fáil and the then Minister for Labour, Deputy Gene Fitzgerald, envisaged.
I am personally committed to the idea of decentralisation, not just to Athlone but to other provincial centres. There is a sense of alienation, a feeling of disquiet among the staff in the Department of Education, Athlone, because they feel political life is based on the idea that bureaucracy is too big and that they cannot make an input into the area of central government. The idea of decentralisation is as attractive in reality as it is in theory. In Athlone we have had the opportunity to view decentralisation at work and it is a very good idea. I regret that this Government did not see fit to continue with this forward programme which took in Athlone, Ballina, Galway, Killarney and Sligo.
In the letter issued early in November 1982 it was envisaged that the salaries electronic processing sections of the Department would be relocated in Athlone. The staff numbers for such decentralisation would be 181. It is coincidental but fortunate that that number almost matches the current number in the Department of Education in Athlone. Computerisation and the phasing out of the intermediate certificate, one of the suggestions put to the Curriculum and Examinations Board by the Minister, will lead to a reduction in employment but in my view this Government should reintroduce decentralisation. While other Members may speak about decentralisation in national terms, my job is to discuss decentralisation as it affects my constituency.
In my view it would not be just if the Minister allowed staff uncertainty to grow while expecting co-operation and enthusiasm among the people in the Department serving in Athlone. I ask the Minister to put it to the Government as a positive suggestion that decentralisation continue in Athlone. In November 1982 it was envisaged that the salaries section would be established in Athlone. That was not very long ago and therefore the idea cannot be held to be irrelevant. It would ease the growing uncertainty and fears of staff not so much about their jobs but about the final outcome of the location of staff.
Let me summarise my arguments: first, we welcome the curriculum and Examinations Board and the emphasis they will have on computerisation and the partial reduction of formal examinations at the early stages of secondary schools. Second, I would like the Minister to spell out the staff implications for the Department of Education in Athlone of such computerisation and phasing out of examinations beyond the temporary years mentioned in the Taoiseach's letter. Third, and this is the main thrust of my contribution, that the second stage of the decentralisation programme as envisaged in the November 1982 document be reviewed in the light of current changes and that an announcement be made shortly to allay the fears of the present staff, or that the Government consider the idea that the salaries section of the Department of Education be transferred to Athlone to take the place of the reduced examinations board. Fourth, the Minister should bear in mind what having the examinations branch has meant to the town and the surrounding area. This has provided 200 jobs for people living in or around Athlone. They contribute weekly to the economic and social well-being of the area, and all this helps to make Athlone a thriving midland town. As a Deputy for the area, I do not want to see Athlone lose what we regard as a very valuable resource.
