Civil servants and decentralisation

A chara, – It appears that since November over 700 civil servants have applied to transfer out of Dublin while 29 have applied to go the other way (News, February 5th).

So this tells us that Dublin is overpriced and many State employees no longer see a future for themselves or for their families in the capital city.

Many State bodies now pride themselves on being online, what therefore is the problem with relocating a number of organisations to towns such as Tralee, Sligo or Castlebar?

Despite the recent broadband fiasco there are certain rural areas which have high-speed broadband and the Government should take advantage of same.

READ MORE

At the same time, the Government needs to drive a country-wide broadband scheme without delay.

A well-paid State job would provide both the employee with a decent life in a rural town and in turn bring life back to the same town. This would in turn alleviate pressure on Dublin.

Why is it that such a win-win situation does not happen? Is there a chance that a certain cohort does not want to see junior civil servants move out of Dublin and in turn erode its own control over the situation?

The Government needs to knuckle down, start taking some positive steps by redressing imbalances in its own sector and face down narrow interests which benefit no one other than themselves. – Is mise,

ROB Mac GIOLLARNÁTH,

Sandyford,

Dublin 18.