Decentralised offices to open in Carlow

The new Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment offices will be opened in Carlow today as part of the Government's troubled…

The new Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment offices will be opened in Carlow today as part of the Government's troubled decentralisation project.

It is the first phase in the move out of Dublin for hundreds of civil servants in the department.

The new headquarters will be home to the National Employment Rights Authority and one business unit of the Companies Registration Office. Minister for Enterprise Minister Micheál Martin will open the offices.

Last week the Government was forced to abandon plans to use promotions as incentives to decentralise public sector workers outside Dublin.

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Fás staff in Dublin went on strike last year after they were told by management that they would only be eligible for promotion if they relocated to Co Offaly.

Tánaiste and Finance Minister Brian Cowen said approximately 40 per cent of all civil service posts due to relocate are already filled, and he estimated that 2,000 of these posts will have moved to their new locations by the end of the year.

The decentralisation programme was unveiled by former finance minister Charlie McCreevy in 2003 and aimed to relocate 10,000 public servants by the end of 2006.