As a political initiative, the announcement of a major decentralisation programme for Government Departments and agencies has been a success. Every constituency in the State - other than Dublin - stands to benefit economically from the relocation of civil and public servants.
Fianna Fáil backbenchers, who were in open revolt over cutbacks in welfare schemes and reform of the health services, have been suitably mollified. The programme will generate a feel-good effect for the local elections of next June and the following general election.
This newspaper has consistently supported the concept of decentralisation, as a means of limiting the growth of Dublin and facilitating the planned development of the regions. The Coalition Government's National Spatial Strategy, published last year, represented a belated attempt at identifying "gateways" and "hubs" as growth centres. At the time, it was criticised as being seriously flawed because too many growth centres had been identified. This decentralisation programme compounds that flaw by allocating civil and public servants to 53 centres in 25 counties, rather than concentrating them in accordance with established spatial strategy. It does not reflect good planning. And the motivation behind it is party political. It amounts to a Hanly report in reverse.
An outline of this scheme was publicised by the Minister for Finance, Mr McCreevy, four years ago. He then invited his Fianna Fáil colleagues to compete for the allocation of State offices to their constituencies. The process was put on hold when the Tánaiste and leader of the Progressive Democrats, Ms Harney, objected strenuously to the politicking involved and to the way in which decentralisation was being managed. But, on the basis of yesterday's announcement, it would appear the parish-pump approach favoured by Mr McCreevy has prevailed.
The success of this decentralisation plan will not only be measured in terms of a reduction in the number of public servants living in Dublin. It must also ensure that the service provided by Departments and agencies is improved. The excessive fragmentation of Departments will make that difficult to achieve. And the decision to relocate the headquarters of eight Departments, along with the Office of Public Works, outside of Dublin may create long-term administrative and political difficulties.
The Government has insisted that civil servants will not be forced to leave Dublin. And no compensation will be paid. Given the past reluctance of senior civil servants to uproot themselves and their families, however, the prospect of securing early agreement to the various transfers appears remote. Mr McCreevy has spoken of completing these reforms by the end of 2007. But negotiations have not even begun with the trade unions involved. And the sum of money allocated for the task may be inadequate. It has taken the Coalition Government four years to nominate the towns and cities that will benefit from decentralisation. Completion of this programme is likely to take at least 10 years.