A union representing senior and middle-ranking civil servants has called a special meeting next month to plan a formal response to the Government's decentralisation programme.
The meeting, scheduled for January 15th, has been called by the Association of Higher Civil and Public Servants (AHCPS), which has questioned the basis on which locations for decentralised offices were selected.
The union has also told the Government of its "anger and dismay" at a notice placed in his Laois-Offaly constituency by supporters of the Minister of State, Mr Tom Parlon: "Civil Servants - Welcome to Parlon Country."
The union's general secretary, Mr Seán Ó Riordáin, said the notice was taken to imply that civil servants were the property of the Government "to be distributed as trophies in advance of local elections".
In a letter circulated to the union's branch secretaries, Mr Ó Riordáin said decentralisation could have a "substantial negative impact" on the career aspirations of civil servants remaining in Dublin.
The AHCPS, which represents principal officers and assistant principals, is not opposed to decentralisation. As Mr Ó Riordáin's letter outlines, however, it has a range of concerns in relation to the programme as announced in the Budget.
The Minister for Finance, Mr McCreevy, announced then that 10,300 civil and public servants were to move to 53 decentralised offices in 25 counties over the next three years.
Mr Ó Riordáin points out in his letter that no mention was made of the development at a meeting of the civil service general council, a union-management forum, held just a week before the December Budget.
As a result, the union had sought clarification on the process followed. "We also sought clarification of the basis of choice of the locations, having regard to the fact that, apparently, three-quarters of those chosen are neither gateways nor hubs as set out in the National Spatial Strategy."
Mr Ó Riordáin also outlined the failed attempts of unions, when plans for a major decentralisation programme were first announced in 2000, to persuade the Government to carry out a survey of staff preferences. Union-management talks on the issue "ran into the sand" after four meetings because such a survey was regarded by unions as of "critical importance".
The union is now asking local managements to conduct a census of each Department or agency selected for decentralisation, to establish how many staff wish to transfer to the chosen locations.
The headquarters of eight Government Departments and the Office of Public Works are to be relocated under the decentralisation programme, leaving seven Departments with headquarters in Dublin. All staff transfers will be voluntary, the Government has pledged.
