Eight Government departments and the Office of Public Works (OPW) will transfer their headquarters from Dublin as part of the huge decentralisation package announced in the Budget.
Staff from the various departments will be assigned to different towns in the regions where the headquarters will be based. The decentralisation will be implemented on a voluntary basis with no redundancies, the Minister for Finance said today.
Ministers with headquarters outside the capital will be provided with a centralised suite of offices, with a small secretariat, close to Leinster House so they can conduct business while they are in Dublin and when the Dail is in session.
Labour Party Spokesperson on the Environment, Mr Eamon Gilmore has described the Budget announcements on the decentralisation of government departments and state agencies as nothing more than "an effort to buy votes in towns across Ireland in advance of next year's local elections."
Deputy Gilmore said: "Under Fianna Fail and the Progressive Democrats we have got used to a series of pre-election promises. Whether it is an end to hospital waiting lists or 2000 extra Gardai, these parties are prepared to say anything to get back into power.
"With the local elections looming next June, I am not surprised that Charlie McCreevy has used the 2004 Budget to announce the transfer of government departments across the country," he said.
The Construction Federation of Ireland (CIF) strongly welcomed the announcement of a major programme of decentralisation.
In a statement the CIF said: "Decentralisation will stimulate private sector investment in the cities and towns selected. Decentralisation must underpin the National Spatial Strategy and support Balanced Regional Development and be implemented in a way which supports the development of the designated gateways and hubs".
Under the move, the Department of Agriculture and Food will move to Portlaoise and the Department of Arts, Sport and Tourism will move to Killarney.
The Department of Communications, Marine and Natural Resources will have its new headquarters in Cavan, while the Department of Community, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs is set to move to Knock airport.
Other departments affected by the decentralisation programme include the Department of Social and Family Affairs, which will move to Drogheda, and the Department of Education and Science, which will have its new base in Mullingar.
The Department of Defence will move to Newbridge, Co Kildare, and the OPW will be based in Trim. The Department of the Environment, Heritage and Local Government will move to Wexford.
Some 10,300 civil servants will initially be affected by the decentralisation plan. A decision has yet to be made on where 835 IT jobs and 500 health sector jobs included in the programme will be located.
The Department of Finance said the relocation of the IT jobs outside Dubin would demand "extreme care". In view of the current position of the health reform programme, the Government has also decided not to make any decisions at this time about the 500 health sector jobs to be decentralised and to what locations they should be assigned. However, it has been decided that the new Health Service Executive and its various units, and also the Health Information and Quality Authority will all be located outside Dublin.
The Minister for Finance later named the members of the Implementation Committee whose responsibility it will be to drive forward the implementation of the programme.
Mr Phil Flynn will chair the Committee. Mr Flynn is a former General Secretary of IMPACT. The other members of the committee are Mr Dermot Quigley (former Chairman of the Revenue Commissioners), Ms. Jane Williams (Managing Director, Sia Group), Mr Fred Devlin (Chartered Surveyor), Mr Eddie Sullivan (Secretary General, PSMD, Department of Finance) and Mr Sean Benton (Chairman, Office of Public Works).
SIPTU said it would be meeting relevant agencies and departments to clarify the plan. SIPTU Regional Secretary, Mr Brendan Hayes, said: "We will then be consulting with our members in the relevant semi-State bodies including the IDA, Failte Ireland, BIM and FAS, where we represent staff and where this announcement will cause huge concern."
"The Minister for Finance has said the transfer will be voluntary and while this assurance is to be welcomed, our members will not be satisfied until they have been assured that their job security will be guaranteed if they choose to remain in Dublin.
"SIPTU will be seeking these assurances at meetings with the relevant bodies over the coming weeks."