Is decentralisation working?
YES:In spite of disimissive attitudes to provincial life, the decentralisation programme is a matter of regional equality, writes Martin Mansergh
IN MANY quarters, decentralisation, like the health service, is not allowed to have a good word said about it. Progress in implementation on the ground either goes unreported, or is dismissed as falling well short of overall targets.
The great and the good, in a way that would do credit to Sir Humphrey and his friends, are wheeled out to tell us that it is damaging to the coherence of government, especially informal networking, while a metropolitan dismissiveness is shown towards life in provincial towns. When almost the entire civil service outside of local offices was in Dublin, it must have been a paragon of joined-up government!
There are many passionate advocates in the national media of every other form of equality, but very few of regional income equality and balance. The main argument for decentralisation is its dynamic economic effects and the better quality of life for the many individuals and families who opt for it.
The addition or subtraction of public service jobs in the capital has a negligible economic impact there, but can transform a medium-sized town. The Office of Public Works, which I now head up as Minister, is responsible for the execution and implementation of policy, in terms of building or refurbishing office space, when mandated to do so by the Department of Finance.
This mandate is given only when projects become viable, and there are sufficient numbers to fill the positions. I would like to illustrate the impact of decentralisation by the local example with which at this stage I am most familiar, though I expect to be visiting Government offices around the country.
During my first week, I visited the new offices on the edge of Tipperary town, which house a section of the Immigration and Naturalisation Service of the Department of Justice. There is an advance party of some 40 civil servants, pending a permanent building within short walking distance of the town centre in two years' time, alongside new Town Council offices. Most of the staff, practically all living locally, have worked in the Revenue Commissioners or in the Collector-General's Office in Limerick, and are very happy to be within 15 minutes' or less commuting distance of home, a big improvement in the quality of life. In July, I will join the Minister for Justice, Dermot Ahern, TD, in opening this office and the office of the Private Security Authority, now employing nearly 50 people in the fine landmark building near the town centre, once an RIC, then a Garda, barracks, then local Department of Agriculture offices.
The OPW plan to refurbish the car park of Clanwilliam rugby club three minutes' walk away, so that it can be used by PSA staff during the day and by the club at evenings and weekends, a win-win situation all round.
Tipperary is home to the most important act of decentralisation ever, the Garda Training College at Templemore, open since 1964. Because of regular visits by the Minister to passing-out parades, County Tipperary is ideal for his department, and Thurles and Roscrea also house Garda and other Justice agencies under the decentralisation programme. The National Spatial Strategy is often cited as an argument against the Government's programme of decentralisation, even though the strategy has only one fleeting reference to the subject. Practically all the hubs and gateways already have civil service buildings, under previous decentralisation programmes. In the Fianna Fáil manifesto of 2002, which also reflects much local political consensus, decentralisation was for sizeable towns that had more difficulty in attracting industry. Local committees did great work promoting their town, and local Oireachtas members backed their case. For a long time, Tipperary was economically stagnant with relatively high unemployment and some population decline. The announcement of decentralisation has been a catalyst for commercial and housing investment in and around the town. The Department of Arts, Sports and Tourism and the OPW will be decentralised respectively to Killarney and Trim, a definite challenge to a Minister of State attached to both departments, a constituency and Leinster House.
However, it is good that a mix of employment will be available outside Dublin, and that a higher proportion of graduates from there will not have to leave home for good. It is also important that central Government is present elsewhere than just in the capital. Amidst genuine concerns, there is also a lot of special pleading. Teagasc is in Carlow, so decentralisation can work for specialised agencies. The process is voluntary, though not for new recruits. The Government is committed to the implementation of its decentralisation programme as provided for in the programme for government including the movement of departmental headquarters.
A lot of leadership is being shown at the top of the civil service in assisting the process to become a reality on the ground. Fortunately, political continuity has given it the time to work and take root.
Martin Mansergh TD is Minister for State at the Department of Arts, Sports and Tourism, with responsibility for the OPW
NO:Some locations make no sense, civil servants are being shifted from one regional town to another, and the whole programme is a mockery of joined-up government, writes John Kelleher
MANY PEOPLE are familiar with the story of the American tourist asking directions to a particular location and the Irishman replying "well, I wouldn't start from here". It is somewhat similar with the present government proposals on decentralisation. The Association of Higher Civil and Public Servants is not against decentralisation. We favour a model where locations are chosen on a rational public interest basis, which enhances rather than takes from administrative efficiency and which respects the rights and legitimate career and development requirements of public service staff and organisations. On all of these criteria the current model is lacking.
The plan, when first announced by then finance minister Charlie McCreevy in December 2003, was to relocate 10,300 civil and public servants out of Dublin to 53 provincial locations within three years. Already the plan is behind schedule and is facing more and more difficulties, or in official speak "challenges", on an ongoing basis.
The move of eight government departments in their entirety out of Dublin makes a mockery of the concept of central joined-up government, a theme that the new Taoiseach has been emphasising. Government departments are not isolated units, they need to liaise on a whole range of policy issues. Any policy formulation, for example on children, will involve a number of departments, particularly the Departments of Education and Science; Justice, Equality and Law Reform; Health and Children; Environment; Heritage and Local Government. At present all these departments are a short walk from each other and officials can meet at short notice. Under decentralisation they will be spread from Wexford to Athlone. Already, some staff in decentralised locations spend part of their time travelling to and from Dublin to meet with and advise the Minister, to work with their colleagues and to meet non-civil service organisations.
Many of the locations chosen do not make sense and are being relocated away from their customer base. Some examples include the Irish Prison Service which has moved from Clondalkin, where it was close to Cloverhill and Wheatfield prisons and the other Dublin prisons, to Longford. A more appropriate location would be Portlaoise where it would be close to both Portlaoise Prison and the Midlands Prison and on the main road network to Cork and Limerick prisons. Another example is the Development Aid section of Foreign Affairs moving to Limerick. Its customer base is the aid agencies and the embassies of developing countries, all Dublin-based. A third example is moving the Public Appointments Service to Youghal. It is responsible for recruitment of staff for the civil service, local authorities and the health service. Moving it out of Dublin city centre, where it is well serviced by public transport, to a seaside town in Cork with poor public transport links does not make sense. A fourth example is the Equality Tribunal to Portarlington when about 50 per cent of the case load is generated by people living in Dublin.
In the small number of moves that have taken place to date, staff turnover is in the order of 90 per cent resulting in a huge loss of experience and corporate knowledge.
The point of decentralisation was supposed to be moving people out of Dublin. However, almost half of those opting to decentralise are staff who are already working in other provincial locations. A plan to move people out of Dublin that does not do so and that creates problems in existing locations cannot be said to be working.
The work of many civil servants involves attendance at EU meetings in Brussels. From Dublin this can very often be covered in one day. From towns like Killarney or Tubbercurry this will take at least two days. The decentralisation programme thus adds additional travel time and cost to the exchequer.
The recent OECD Report Ireland: Towards an Integrated Public Service shares a number of concerns which our association, the AHCPS, has highlighted over recent years.
The AHCPS reiterates its call on the Government to review the structure, timescale, impact and extent of decentralisation, including a cost impact assessment. The aim should be to ensure that standards of service delivery by Irish civil and public servants to the public, Oireachtas and Government are maintained at their current high levels and indeed continuously enhanced. The review should specifically consider abandoning the proposals to move entire departments from the seat of government in Dublin to smaller provincial locations.
There is still a window of opportunity for the Government to address the many difficulties in the present model. It is in the public interest that a review be undertaken immediately.
So, is decentralisation working? Emphatically not! And it is only going to get worse.
John Kelleher is deputy general secretary of the Association of Higher Civil and Public Servants