Vol. 526 No. 6
332 Mr. Belton asked the Minister for Social, Community and Family Affairs if he will have investigations made into transferring staff within his Department from Dublin to the regions, for example, a number of staff from Longford commute to Dublin daily thus adding to traffic and those staff should be placed in Longford. [27359/00]
The Department already has a significant presence in Longford and its environs. There are some 230 staff in the decentralised office, 18 in the local office dealing with unemployment claims and seven in the headquarters of the midlands region.
Posts outside Dublin, including Longford, which become vacant are filled in accordance with agreements with the staff unions and it is not unusual that there would be waiting lists for transfer to various locations, especially at clerical level.
