A "quiet revolution" is under way in the Civil Service as regards attitudes to decentralisation, a Government Minister claimed yesterday.
Quashing fears that not enough civil servants wanted to move from Dublin, the Minister for Community, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs, Éamon Ó Cuív said "significant progress" had been made as regards 33 of the 58 rural centres earmarked for decentralisation.
Speaking at Ireland West Airport, Knock, where he launched a suite of new fire tenders, Mr Ó Cuív said by the end of the year construction teams will be on site in 16 locations.
"The 'quiet revolution' is now well under way with people wanting to move from Dublin," Mr Ó Cuív stated. He added that by year's end 70 staff from his department will have relocated at Knock and the entire headquarters staff will have moved from Dublin by the end of 2007.
Mr Ó Cuív yesterday launched a suite of three fire tenders at Knock which will enable the airport to handle transatlantic and intercontinental aircraft of any size, including Boeing 747s and Airbus A330s.
A staff of 22 fire fighting personnel at Knock are currently undergoing training on the new tenders, two of which were imported from the US and one from the UK.