Madam, - The local Impact union committee representing specialists in Development Co-operation Ireland (DCI), Department of Foreign Affairs, feels compelled to take the unusual step of responding publicly to recent public comments made by Minister Dermot Ahern regarding decentralisation.
In an interview with RTÉ yesterday, the Minister said the unwillingness of DCI specialist staff to move to Limerick was not a constraint to decentralisation. He also said new and younger people bring much better ideas than perhaps people who have been there for many, many years and that a "continuous change of specialities for people" was desirable. Specialists are employees of the Minister for Foreign Affairs whose input is essential for the planning and delivery of Ireland's aid programme.
The Minister's remarks are not only insulting but, in our view, they also undermine the current human resource strategy of the Department which recognises the importance of specialist input to the programme.
For the record, the Ireland Aid Review Committee Report, which was adopted by Government in 2002, recognises the need to develop an improved career structure "so that a long-term core of specialist staff can be assured for the programme".
In spite of the Government's assurances that decentralisation is voluntary, specialist staff now understand that for them, this is not now the case. Despite repeated requests from Impact for information on what alternatives are available for DCI specialist staff who do not wish to decentralise, no such information has been provided.
In this situation, the Minister's statement implies that for us decentralisation is compulsory.
It is unfortunate that the Minister has chosen the airwaves as the vehicle for voicing his concerns, rather than organising a meeting with his staff. - Yours, etc,
KEVIN CARROLL,
FIONNUALA GILSENAN,
FINTAN FARRELLY,
FIONA ENGLISH,
KEVIN COLGAN,
EARNÁN Ó CLÉIRIGH,
Impact Local
Union Committee,
Development Co-operation
Ireland,
Bishops Square,
Dublin 2.