Blanket opposition by trade unions to the Government's decentralisation programme does not make sense, Minister for Enterprise and Employment Micheál Martin has said.
Many civil and public servants were happy to move out of Dublin as part of the programme, the Minister said.
Mr Martin was responding yesterday to a decision by Siptu to effectively withdraw co-operation from the Government's plans to relocate a number of State agencies out of the capital under the decentralisation programme.
Siptu said that a meeting yesterday of representatives of more than 1,600 members in 16 non-commercial semi-State agencies had urged that they should be excluded from the decentralisation programme.
The Siptu announcement came shortly after Mr Martin had officially opened the advance interim office of the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment in Carlow established under the decentralisation programme.
The new National Employment Rights Authority and sections of the Company Registration Office will be based in the Carlow centre.
Mr Martin said that 100 staff from his department had moved to Carlow as part of the decentralisation programme and that ultimately the number would rise to 250.
The Minister described the move as "a significant achievement".
"It is fantastic to meet people who have been decentralised, people who say they had been commuting to Dublin for years and who are now living within 15 minutes of work. That is the real success of decentralisation," he said. Mr Martin said it was true to say that the decentralisation programme had moved "more smoothly" in the Civil Service than in the various State agencies earmarked to relocate under the plan.
"It was recognised over a year ago that we would have to take a different approach to the agencies. I know [ Minister for Finance] Brian Cowen is looking at that and together we are looking at the implications of the recent Labour Court adjudication," he said.
Last week the Labour Court ruled that the State training and education agency Fás could not make promotions conditional on staff agreeing to move to its new headquarters in Birr, Co Offaly.
Mr Martin said there had been some movement in relation to decentralisation among the State agencies. However, he said it was "a mixed bag".
"Fás will have people in Birr shortly, Enterprise Ireland will have up to 60 people in Shannon, the Health and Safety Authority has already moved to Kilkenny and will be based in Thomastown. But there has been less progress with the National Standards Authority of Ireland.
"So it is a mixed bag [ and] not as fast as original targets and dates. However, we are moving towards creating a presence of all of those agencies in the locations to which it has been determined they will go," he said.
Mr Martin added that the Government would work with the trade unions to see how to facilitate better progress. However, he said that it was too early to go into the details, which were being examined by the Department of Finance.
Meanwhile, following its meeting of representatives of staff in 16 non-commercial semi-State organisations, Siptu said that it welcomed the decision of Fás management and of Mr Cowen to accept the Labour Court recommendation.
Siptu regional secretary Patricia King said delegates had reaffirmed that their campaign would continue to remove all State agencies from the decentralisation programme.
"We believe that the Labour Court recommendation has highlighted the legitimate concerns of staff and has spelt out very clearly that voluntary means voluntary. The court accepted people had legitimate expectations and proprietorial rights based on their careers with these agencies and cannot be compelled to relocate," she said.
The Siptu meeting included representatives from bodies such as Enterprise Ireland, Fáilte Ireland, the National Standards Authority Ireland, Bus Éireann, the National Roads Authority, Bord Bia, BIM, the Combat Poverty Agency and the Arts Council, as well as Fás.
