Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 28 February 2006
57 Mr. Hogan asked the Minister for Finance the number of posts which have been vacated and scheduled to remain in Dublin as a result of the decentralisation programme; the number of people wishing to remain in Dublin who have to date applied to the Public Appointments Service in respect of these posts; and if details of the posts and respective applicants will be published in a manner similar to the central applications facility. [7942/06]
Amharc ar fhreagra68 Mr. Neville asked the Minister for Finance the negotiations that have taken place regarding the placement of persons who do not opt to decentralise with their units or agencies; and the proposals the Government has made to unions. [7971/06]
Amharc ar fhreagra124 Mr. Costello asked the Minister for Finance if an estimate has been undertaken of the number of civil or public servants who do not wish to relocate and who will be surplus to requirements as a result of their jobs being transferred to other locations under the Government’s decentralisation programme; the jobs that will be provided for these personnel; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [7876/06]
Amharc ar fhreagraI propose to take Questions Nos. 57, 68 and 124 together.
The primary mechanism for placing civil servants who are in posts which are due to decentralise but wish to remain in Dublin is by way of bilateral transfer. As staff who have applied to decentralise continue to be transferred into decentralising organisations, the posts they vacate become available to those wishing to remain in Dublin. At end-January 2006 in excess of 1,150 staff have been assigned to decentralising posts of which almost 750 are Dublin based applicants.
In addition, my Department has been in discussions with the Civil Service unions on further arrangements to facilitate the placement of Dublin based staff. The objective of these arrangements is to provide to the Public Appointments Service details of staff who wish to remain in Dublin at each grade level so that a proportion of vacancies arising in Dublin based posts may be filled by those staff. These arrangements have been recently initiated for general service grades. I will write to the Deputy with details of the number of people who have supplied details to the Public Appointments Service in this regard.
It is intended that the arrangements will continue over the full transition phase of the decentralisation programme. I would not envisage a process similar to the central applications facility for the placing of staff in Dublin posts, as I would continue to expect that a significant number of staff will be placed through the bilateral arrangements outlined as the programme is rolled out. The central resource managed by the PAS will therefore represent only a proportion of the overall arrangements for placing of staff in Dublin posts. Participation in these arrangements by Departments and offices will be influenced by their timeframe for moving, their success in placing staff through the bilateral arrangements, whether they are relocating in full or in part and the extent to which their staff can be placed elsewhere within the organisation in Dublin.
