THE IRISH Congress of Trade Unions has said it will not facilitate new discussions with the Department of Finance regarding the controversial decentralisation programme until the Government responds to concerns about the project set out by the OECD last month.
The Department of Finance and Ictu have been in contact over recent months on the implications for the decentralisation programme of a landmark Labour Court ruling last summer, effectively prohibiting State agencies from making promotions conditional upon staff being prepared to move out of Dublin.
In correspondence in late April, the Department of Finance suggested that there should be new bilateral meetings between unions representing staff in various State agencies earmarked to move under decentralisation.
It proposed that these bilateral meetings with individual unions could be held under the umbrella of current discussions between the Department of Finance and Ictu.
However, it is understood that last week Ictu replied to the Department of Finance, suggesting that such meetings should be postponed until the Government had responded to issues raised about the decentralisation programme by the OECD in its recent report on public sector reform.
The Paris-based think tank said that the plans to move more than 10,000 civil and public service jobs out of Dublin was changing the public service landscape.
It warned that if not properly implemented, it could further contribute to fragmentation of services.
The OECD said that the implementation of decentralisation also created an opportunity to think about the public service in new ways.
It would allow the introduction of changes which would provide increased mobility across sectors and allow staff to broaden career and development opportunities.
It said that it would also allow for greater sharing of resources and services at regional level.
However, it also warned that in the absence of longer term plans on how this restructuring would affect performance or meet the needs of the wider public, the policy posed significant challenges to modernisation and the ability to achieve an integrated, cohesive public service.
The Government has said that it accepted that the decentralisation programme was challenging. However, it has given no indication that it plans to change policy in this area.
A number of public sector unions have called for the decentralisation programme to be reviewed.