New figures showing that only one-third of specialist staff in key State agencies are willing to consider decentralisation shows the Government's original programme is unworkable, Joan Burton of the Labour Party has said.
Real damage could be done to the public service and to a number of vital State agencies if "the Government persists with its ill-considered and poorly-thought-through plan", she said.
"The reality is that the plan is now a shambles. As we approach the third anniversary of the announcement, less than 1,000 of the planned 10,000 public servants have moved."
Ms Burton said the latest figures were gleaned from a "compilation of sources". She had looked at figures released by the Decentralisation Implementation Group, which publishes progress figures on a regular basis, in addition to replies to parliamentary questions and responses from Ministers on decentralisation.
Public servants were also regularly contacting her, confirming that decentralisation was not occurring. The plan was first suggested by Charlie McCreevy in his budget speech of December 2003. "Just last week I highlighted the fact that Enterprise Ireland, which according to the McCreevy plan was to relocate to Shannon, had taken out a 25-year lease on two office blocks in Dublin. And now we have these new figures showing that only a third of specialist and technical staff are willing to move."