Senior civil servants remaining in Dublin after posts are decentralised are to seek a voluntary severance package from the Government.
The Association of Higher Civil and Public Servants said yesterday that it would seek to negotiate such a package, which was sought by delegates to its annual conference.
A motion calling for a severance package was remitted to the union's executive for further consideration, but only because it was considered too narrow in its terms. A member of the union's executive, Philip Crosby, assured delegates that the AHCPS would press for such a package, even if the motion was not put to the floor.
The motion called on the Government to introduce "a voluntary severance package, incorporating a minimum of 10 added years service, for civil servants remaining in Dublin following the movement of their jobs to other centres outside the capital".
Delegate Garvan O'Keeffe said the motion was flawed in that it would confine eligibility for severance to civil servants whose own jobs had been decentralised. Making it more widely available would free up posts in Dublin for those who wished to remain in the Civil Service after their own jobs had been decentralised.
The decentralisation programme was sharply criticised at the conference by keynote speaker Frank McDonald, environment editor of The Irish Times.
The original estimated cost of the programme, at "over €200 million", had been revised upwards to more than €900 million, he said. This was more than "the extravagant cost" of Dublin's two Luas lines, more than the cost of "God knows how many hospital beds" and more than the cost of "the wretched M3 motorway".
"It is a complete waste of money and a misapplication of resources on a monumental scale," he said. McDonald claimed clientelism was behind the choice of location of decentralised offices made by Ministers. The aim was "to bring joy to the business community of every town - the publicans, shopkeepers, auctioneers, estate agents, car dealers and fellows with land to sell at a premium price for a new Government office block".
"Meanwhile, major Dublin buildings in danger of being divested include the Custom House and the OPW's suite of Georgian houses on St Stephen's Green."
