The more information that becomes available about the Government's plan to move more than 10,000 civil and public servants out of Dublin, the more apparent it becomes that decisions were taken in the absence of a detailed cost/benefit analysis and an assessment of the effects the relocations may have on the quality and delivery of State services.
A report from the Government's Decentralisation Implementation Group has acknowledged that, for the plan to work, thousands of officials will have to transfer to entirely new jobs. And the problems created will raise questions about conditions of service, pensions and tenure, as well as legal issues relating to appointments to the civil service.
A temporary dislocation in the provision of State services can be tolerable when administrative elements are involved, as happened on a number of occasions in the past. But this Government has decided to move the headquarters and policy-making elements of eight Departments out of the capital without any apparent evaluation of the effect this will have on "joined-up-government". Recognising that officials will continue to travel to Dublin for some meetings, the report spoke of the "bulk purchase of overnight accommodation" in order to keep costs down. New office accommodation in rural towns will be rented while, in Dublin, the State may have to retain its existing offices for many years in order to prevent a collapse in property values. No costs have been provided.
Trade union opposition is hardening to the methodology proposed by the Government to encourage the transfer of employees. From next month, affected civil and public servants will be asked to state their preferences for the available locations, on a scale from one to ten, but they will not be permitted to express a desire to remain in Dublin. Because the decentralisation process is supposed to be voluntary, trade unions are objecting to pressure being placed on their members to relocate. Talks will be held on the issue next week.
In nine months time, a start will be made on moving the Departments, along with the Office of Public Works and a number of other State agencies, to 53 towns and cities in 25 counties. The Minister for Finance, Mr McCreevy, has insisted there is no question of reconsidering the scale of the programme, or of omitting certain elements of it. The Government holds the view that "it will be all right on the night". If it gets this wrong and there are large-scale voluntary redundancies of senior officials, however, the whole of society will suffer. A little caution - and a great deal of careful planning - is required.