Decentralisation

The_Conductor

ninja900 wrote:

The PSEU will not strike on this issue no matter what.

In fact it's impossible to imagine them striking on any issue, no matter what. They are easily the most useless public sector union, but they're the only one I'm legally allowed join

Not entirely true- you are perfectly within your rights to join any union that you like- however the PSEU is the only union recognised as representing your grade (same net effect ) Ditto for me.....

holly_johnson

Looks like there's a few of us in the really crap PSEU club...

NewDubliner

PSEU sold the IT grades down the river some years ago.

The irony is that, even though they no longer enjoy a separate promotional stream or pay rate, these same IT staff are now tagged by the as 'IT' and are not being allowed to leave the IT areas to escape the government's purge of all Dublin-based IT workers.

Hotblack Desiato

smccarrick wrote:

Not entirely true- you are perfectly within your rights to join any union that you like- however the PSEU is the only union recognised as representing your grade (same net effect ) Ditto for me.....

Well, yeah, there's no point joining a union which cannot represent you.

There again, there's not much point in joining a union which represents you poorly...

Aidan1

I'm surprised that anyone joined the PSEU in the first place, to be honest.

I've never met a group of less effectual, more pathetic, unionistas in my short existence.

very miffed dub

I only joined the PSEU earlier this year because of the Income Continuance Plan which will hopefully provide me with a percentage of my income when I am out on unpaid sick leave due to stress caused by the Decentralisation debacle.

75% of Dublin staff (about 25 so far) in the section I work in have already been replaced and the stress it's causing is immeasureable. Every Friday someone else is forced to leave a job they loved and were highly skilled at.

C'est la vie !!!!

Hotblack Desiato

Hopefully McDowell will sack Parlon and insist that the whole decentralisation mess is scrapped.

How Harney went along with it I'll never figure out.

NewDubliner

ninja900 wrote:

Hopefully McDowell will sack Parlon and insist that the whole decentralisation mess is scrapped.

Parlon's just the front-man/fall guy. He's there to take the flak. Probably gambling that as long as it plays well to to the people of Offaly, he'll benefit regardless of the outcome.

There's a whole raft of vested interests backing the scheme. There's billions of euro to be bilked from the taxpayer in the wholly unnecessary funding land acquisition, building fit-outs and training. Even with FG at the helm, it will probably still get pushed.

ninja900 wrote:

How Harney went along with it I'll never figure out.

'Civil Service Reform'.

TempestSabre

Decentralisation as is currently being implemented makes no sense unless you look at the vested interests and where the votes are comming from.

Firetrap

NewDubliner wrote:

Parlon's just the front-man/fall guy. He's there to take the flak. Probably gambling that as long as it plays well to to the people of Offaly, he'll benefit regardless of the outcome.

There's a whole raft of vested interests backing the scheme. There's billions of euro to be bilked from the taxpayer in the wholly unnecessary funding land acquisition, building fit-outs and training. Even with FG at the helm, it will probably still get pushed.

'Civil Service Reform'.

Don't forget either that there are a lot of civil & public servants commuting from Offaly every day. I think it's safe to say that decentralisation can't come quick enough for them. Having said that, towns like Tullamore would thrive anyway even if government departments never went near the place.

Parlon deserves every bit of flack that comes his way from this debacle. Not every politician would have the neck to name their constituency after themselves (Parlon country). He's basically the Minister for Decentralisation.

You'r right though about it being unlikely that FG would roll back on decentralisation though. Politicians are into damage limitation. Telling the deluded souls in Ballygobackwards that they're not getting an influx of "well paid civil servants" only too ready to spend all their dosh in their town wouldn't be a popular thing to do

NewDubliner

allie_e17 wrote:

Don't forget either that there are a lot of civil & public servants commuting from Offaly every day.

The problem is that nobody knows precisely how many and if their skills are compatible with the jobs being taken away from Dublin staff.

Nobody knows the final cost of facilitating the Offaly staff. Nobody seems to care about costs.

The 'divide and conquer;' tactic has succeeded in weakening the public sector union stance against this wasteful plan.

Firetrap

The plan was never about ensuring that people who were good at their jobs would continue to pursue careers in their respective departments but to get bodies into shiny new government offices down the country.

Parlon (and Brian Cowen) hail from a constituency which has a large number of people who are commuting long distances every day. Getting these people local jobs would theoretically win them votes. That's why I think Parlon's pushing it so much. The other reason of course is his insatiable lust for power.

I agree totally about the divide and conquer tactic. It's crippling the unions, especially the ones representing lower grade staff who don't have roots in Dublin and would dearly love to move.

Victor

allie_e17 wrote:

Having said that, towns like Tullamore would thrive anyway even if government departments never went near the place.

The Dept of Education already have their Building Unit there. Some staff commute from Dublin.

NewDubliner

Victor wrote:

The Dept of Education already have their Building Unit there. Some staff commute from Dublin.

Any idea why they've not moved home to Tullamore?

Victor

NewDubliner wrote:

Any idea why they've not moved home to Tullamore?

Because they are form Dublin?

Hotblack Desiato

allie_e17 wrote:

Parlon (and Brian Cowen) hail from a constituency which has a large number of people who are commuting long distances every day.

Yeah but how many are civil servants? :rolleyes:

pete

From the turbine yesterday

sunday turbine wrote:

Parlon OPW deal could lead to wider decentralisation chaos

JUNIOR finance minister Tom Parlon has proposed a bizarre deal to workers at the Office of Public Works which will allow staff who are refusing to decentralise to Trim, Co. Meath, from Dublin, to work from home and either email material or send it by ISDN lines to their new office. Parlon, the head of the OPW, has also done a deal with the Impact trade union which could derail the whole decentralisation programme if it were to catch on in other departments.

He has agreed that he will not recruit staff to the Trim office until all the engineers and architects who do not want to leave Dublin have been absorbed into other civil-service posts. As this could take years, the whole decentralisation programe in the OPW could be put on ice, with a largely vacant, though brand new HQ in Trim echoing to the sound of ISDN lines humming, awaiting input from staff ensconced at home in Dublin. Parlon's main problem is that there are simply not enough vacancies in Dublin to absorb the 100 OPW professional staff who want to remain in the capital. Under Parlon's promise, therefore, he will not be able to staff the decentralised OPW headquarters in Trim with professional workers. This puts the whole move in serious doubt.

Though Parlon told Impact that his commitment applies to the OPW move to Trim only, the union, which represents all professional staff in the public service, is now pushing for the same commitment in other departments with specialist staff - such as the prison service, environment, valuation office – which are due to move shortly.

hmmm

Victor

Hmmmm ISDN, last decade's technology.

I presume he is saying ISDN, because he knows the state of broadband implementation here.

TempestSabre

Originally Posted by sunday turbine - can someone post a link to that.

NewDubliner

This gem from the Irish Examiner, last Wednesday may have been overlooked. I've highlighted some telling points indicating that the move to the already prosperous town of Killarney (which just happens to be in his constituency) fails to achieve the principal objective of moving people out of Dublin and of doing so at no net extra cost to the taxpayer.

Fortunately for the Minister, the civil service commission is prepared to promote 5 extra staff to the €100,000 PO grade level so as to ensure that the office has its compliment of senior managers.

From The Examiner Wed, 30 Aug 2006 by Anne Lucey

Forty-three early-mover officials from the Department of Arts Sport and Tourism will take up positions in temporary accommodation at a call-centre on the Ring of Kerry near Killarney next week, Minister John O'Donoghue has announced.

It is one of more than 20 temporary centres nationally, which the OPW has been asked to acquire to accommodate civil servants wishing to move before the purpose built buildings for their departments are in place, a spokesman for the OPW revealed yesterday.

These premises, sought on a short-term lease with favourable terms and conditions, are selected by the OPW through agencies. This work is being done in tandem with the main decentralisation programme. Already 250 staff are working in two temporary centres in Portlaoise for the Department of Agriculture. The "advance group" from seven units of the Department of Arts, Sport and Tourism which includes civil servants from the provinces as well as from other Dublin based departments are to be located at the former Rosenbluth offices at Fossa some seven kilometres from their eventual purpose built headquarters in the town centre which is scheduled to open in early 2008.

Many of the early movers had chosen to move to Killarney for "an improved lifestyle with shorter commuting times, a beautiful environment and better value in the housing market," Mr O'Donoghue revealed.

All the staff including those from the provinces had travelled to Dublin for several weeks training before their re-location.

Following "a bedding-down period" further units of the department would be transferred, the minister said.

The OPW has selected the contractor for the new offices in a former car-park and garage site at New Road and building is to start in the coming months. In total some 130 civil servants are to move with the decentralisation of the complete department to the tourist town.

Enough civil servants had applied to fill all grades except that of principal officer where there was still a shortfall of five. These would be filled by promoting from the interdepartmental panel and internal competition.

Earlier this year, it emerged that up to half those civil servants applying to be relocated to Killarney were based outside Dublin.

pete

TempestSabre wrote:

Originally Posted by sunday turbine - can someone post a link to that.

link

registration required

TempestSabre

pete wrote:

link

registration required

Tks

Hotblack Desiato

NewDubliner wrote:

Irish Examiner wrote:

All the staff including those from the provinces had travelled to Dublin for several weeks training before their re-location.

And thanks to the wonders of decentralisation, Dublin based staff no longer suffer the inconvenience and expense of going to Lansdowne House for training, they simply go to Tullamore instead... :rolleyes:

The ultimate cost of mileage, subsistence etc. as a result of this move is going to dwarf the decentralisation retraining costs, it's an ongoing needless expense.

holly_johnson

ninja900 wrote:

And thanks to the wonders of decentralisation, Dublin based staff no longer suffer the inconvenience and expense of going to Lansdowne House for training, they simply go to Tullamore instead... :rolleyes:

The ultimate cost of mileage, subsistence etc. as a result of this move is going to dwarf the decentralisation retraining costs, it's an ongoing needless expense.

I think that it's the other way around... the trainers that are now in Tullamore are going to be the ones getting the travel and sub to come back up to Lansdowne House to give the courses....

aonfocaleile

If that's the case it kinda defeats the purpose of them decentralising in the first place - they'll have to do loads of travel to various locations resulting in less "quality time" in their new communities rather than "shorter commuting times".

Mind you, who'd turn down that level of TnS:rolleyes:

And there was me planning a free mid-week break in Tullamore with the only catch being that I'd have to attend a course....looks like its back to the drawing board

Hotblack Desiato

Here we were told that all courses delivered by CMOD will be in Tullamore.

Whether the trainees travel, or the trainers travel, it's crazy moving those providing a service away from the location where most of the users of that service are.

holly_johnson

ninja900 wrote:

Here we were told that all courses delivered by CMOD will be in Tullamore.

Whether the trainees travel, or the trainers travel, it's crazy moving those providing a service away from the location where most of the users of that service are.

Well, plans are always open to change, I suppose, but I know that the training rooms in Lansdowne are vacant and won't be occupied by anyone else for the forseeable future to allow for training use. I could never see a situation where all training would be in Tullamore; what about the language training they do and the pre-retirement courses? Those people couldn't be expected to travel to Tullamore. Some training will be done in Tullamore for sure, but the majority will be either in Dublin or in centres around the country with the trainers lapping up the T&S.

TempestSabre

Well its never been about services or value for money is it. Simply votes and keeping people happy.

Firetrap

Exactly. It's all about getting bodies into shiny new offices all around the country. It doesn't matter what they were in a previous life. The locals won't worry about small details like T&S

Hotblack Desiato

holly_johnson wrote:

Well, plans are always open to change, I suppose, but I know that the training rooms in Lansdowne are vacant and won't be occupied by anyone else for the forseeable future to allow for training use.

Lansdowne House is to go up for sale. From Saturday's IT:

Irish Times wrote:

Windfall for State in south Dublin land sale

The Government is set to cash in for a third time on the property boom in Ballsbridge as it prepares to sell a prominent office building across from the Jury's Hotel complex in south Dublin.

Informed sources say the nine-storey Lansdowne House building, which the Government acquired for €29.8 million in 1999, is likely to come on the market early next year. The quarter-acre site includes the 6,503sq m (70,000sq ft) office block and 90 car parking spaces.

A syndicate of private investors, including the Odlum family and property developer David Maher and his family, made a handsome profit in 1999 when they sold the building to the State. They had acquired the property for €11.43 million just three years previously.

Lansdowne House will be of interest because of its proximity to the Jurys complex. The developer Seán Dunne of Mountbrook Homes spent €380 million last year buying the Jurys, Berkeley Court and Towers hotels.

He plans a high-end residential and retail zone for the area, akin to a "Knightsbridge of Dublin".

With Mr Dunne and other investors such as Ray Grehan and Jerry O'Reilly behind the massive rise in valuations in this part of Ballsbridge, the sale of Lansdowne House may provide a windfall for the Exchequer next year.

Department of Finance officials, who occupied 47 per cent of the office space, are vacating the building after the transfer in July of their unit to Tullamore, Co Offaly, under the decentralisation scheme. In anticipation of a sale, the Office of Public Works (OPW) does not plan to find replacement tenants for the space they occupied.

The remainder of the office block is occupied by officials in the Revenue service.

Plans to transfer them have not yet been formulated but the combination of the valuation spike, decentralisation and a Government commitment to sell off surplus assets means that a sale is inevitable.

Minister of State Tom Parlon, who is responsible for the OPW, has demonstrated a clear appetite for property sales in Ballsbridge.

The Government realised €171.5 million last year when it sold the former veterinary college building on Shelbourne Road to Mr Grehan. It got a further €35.9 million from the adjoining faculty building when it was sold last May to David Courtney and Jerry O'Reilly.

"Under Minister Parlon's Transforming State Assets programme and the decentralisation programme, redundant property can and will be disposed of," said the OPW's spokesman when asked about Lansdowne House.

Mr Dunne recently increased his portfolio in Ballsbridge with a deal to acquire the Hume House office block which adjoins the Jurys complex.

He secured ownership of the 7,432sq m building by way of a "swap" agreed with the Irish Life Irish Property Fund.

holly_johnson

I work in Lansdowne House and this is news to me!
Only 1 floor was vacated by the move to Tullamore. Finance still occupy three floors and Revenue occupy 4. I'm shocked by this... where are we going to be moved to??

Macy

holly_johnson wrote:

I'm shocked by this... where are we going to be moved to??

Like everyone who's not going with their jobs or to any other decentralised location (i.e. the majority of civil and public servants) this is the €2 billion question.

NewDubliner

From the 'Examiner', Oct 5th 2006. There's no mention of how many of the people who've agreed to 'move' actually lived or worked in Dublin in the first place:

Just 2,000 public servants to move by end of 2007

By Harry McGee, Political Editor
ONLY 2,000 of 10,600 public servants will have moved to decentralised posts by the end of 2007, the date the Government originally promised the programme would be completed.


The slow progress of the controversial scheme is revealed in the latest report of the Decentralisation Implementation Group (DIG), published yesterday.

The DIG said the programme’s implementation is “progressing satisfactorily” but problems included:

* staff who wish to remain in Dublin.

* difficulties in relocating IT divisions of large departments outside the capital.

* ongoing difficulties with State agencies.

In relation to State agencies, the report says that while progress was made by some, “there has been a marked lack of action in some other agencies”.

Some 30 agencies are due to relocate, involving 2,340 posts. While seven have been identified as early movers, opposition to the move within one of those agencies, FÁS, has been referred to the Labour Court.

The DIG also says it is aware that the Department of Transport is examining the transfer of Bus Éireann to Mitchelstown. It urges this be clarified as a matter of urgency but does not disclose if the original decision may now be reviewed.

The property programme is completed or well advanced in 34 of the 53 locations, and the DIG says departments and offices will have a presence in 29 locations within 18 months.

While 2,100 staff have been assigned, only 500 have moved so far.

The report says the targets set out in June 2005 that 6,800 staff will be moved in the next three years is still on schedule, though it adds that some will happen later than originally projected.

Finance Minister Brian Cowen welcomed the report, calling it a success.

However, Labour’s Joan Burton said the Government had no reason to be upbeat, as 2,000 transfers by 2008 was a “far cry” from original proposals: “Only a government with a record as dismal as this could regard meeting 20% of the target a success.”

Victor

Finance Minister Brian Cowen welcomed the report, calling it a success.

A bit like the motorway programme, of which they have about 52% of what they expected complete.

mrhappy42

Office buildings are sold all the time in the corporate world. I dont know how many times myself or people I know in the private sector have moved. Never got a cent.

The idea that goverment jobs are somehow different from other jobs is coming to an end. Its irrelevent if 2000 or 10000 moved its the fact that goverments are doing it.

The fact that they are moving into the renting space instead of owning expensive real estate all shows that goverments are moving into the ideas of private companies.

Imagine 20 years from now, all this discussion will be over, accepted and not just decentralised but outsourced.

TempestSabre

mrhappy42 wrote:

....

Imagine 20 years from now, all this discussion will be over, accepted and not just decentralised but outsourced.

I agree outsourced and less cost efficient

eigrod

mrhappy42 wrote:

Imagine 20 years from now, all this discussion will be over, accepted and not just decentralised but outsourced.

Imagine 20 years from now a tribunal to discuss the massive waste of taxpayer's money on this scheme.

pete

mrhappy42 wrote:

I dont know how many times myself or people I know in the private sector have moved. Never got a cent.

And this is relevant to a discussion on decentralisation how? What are you implying?

The idea that goverment jobs are somehow different from other jobs is coming to an end. Its irrelevent if 2000 or 10000 moved its the fact that goverments are doing it.

The fact that they are moving into the renting space instead of owning expensive real estate

Yes, i'm sure the rent they have to pay on all those properties they own really does add up.

all shows that goverments are moving into the ideas of private companies.

Which in turn shows you haven't read very much of this thread. (see: cost-benefit analysis & lack thereof)

Imagine 20 years from now, all this discussion will be over, accepted and not just decentralised but outsourced.

Riiight, because outsourcing is a cure-all that always - always! - saves money.

The_Conductor

Talking about outsourcing- I'm just back from 3 weeks in India, where the biggest worries they have at the moment are the manner that a lot of major US and EU companies are pulling their outsourced customer and IT support from India because of poor service levels, availability and most importantly reliability. There are also yet more people being arrested for the sale of personal information (the bank in question was not named on commercial sensetivity grounds).

Outsourcing is not the panancea it was once held up to be.

Macy

I see yet again this report gives no timescale or breakdown for the semi states. Blather about it not going well without giving the actual figures, although it did at least list them :rolleyes:

NewDubliner

The latest DIG report can be found here: http://www.finance.gov.ie/viewdoc.asp?DocID=4277

A number of points have slipped past the mostly gullible press coverage:

1: The report makes no attempt to connect the targets it claims it is meeting with the original objectives of the scheme. For example, it gives no breakdown of how many people on target for 'decentralising' to Kilrush, actually work in Dublin.

No details given of how much they will have relieved Dublin traffic or reduced house-price inflation (remember these fantastic claims?).

2: It acknowledges that there will be costs outside of building costs, but buries the detail in a smokescreen of requesting the departments to report back on it. (So no details yet of the cost of churn or building fit-outs.)

3: The out-sourcing of the data centres to 'World Class Data-Centers' has been abandoned. In fact the report reveals that the original recommendation was totally unworkable. One reason given is concerns over the security of privately-run facilities.

Locations such as Dublin, Cork and Limerick (none of which need the work) are given as possible new sites.

4: Serious issues such as the disposal of unwanted Dublin-based specialist staff are kicked to touch.

very miffed dub

The upper management where I work are starting to panic now because they realise they'll be taking inexperienced staff to the new location in the new year (although they've spent thousands of euro on training them).

The existing experienced Dublin staff are living from day to day, constantly phoning the Personnel Section to see if there are any vacancies.

Personally, I just want to get out because as much as I loved my job, my so called replacement is so bad that I'm embarassed by their work.

After a meeting this week it was decided that all remaining highly experienced Dublin staff would be rewarded with an extra day's leave per month.

I don't know what to do - Agree to stay on the Titanic or jump now??

Any thoughts?

The_Conductor

I know what you mean- my own department (Agriculture) sent me an e-mail to say they are refusing to release me to a job offer in the IT section in Revenue, as they cannot get replacement staff who are willing to transfer to Portlaoise. They further stated that they are withdrawing fully from the Dublin based transfer system altogether, until such time as Finance figure a way to get over the debacle of all the experienced staff being haemoraged elsewhere.

Politicians see civil servants as totally interchangeable in their roles and able to walk into each others jobs with no notice whatsoever. In a lot of cases this is blatantly not true- in my case I'd like to see them find another EO with a science degree and a private sector background in finance willing to work on an EO salary...... they won't........

Diaspora

Politicians are always claiming kudos for relationship building and delivering on the basis of relationship synergies but CCs are presumed not to have any worthwhile professional relationships and can be moved around like pawns on a monopoly board and if you want to stay put do not pass go unless you fancy the private sector. I think that decentralisation has been very revealing in displaying the actual esteem that CCs are held in by those in the current administration.

rebelbanner

Have offer of move to preferred location - Current hold ups with Dublin transfers mean no move - if anyone is genuinely interested in a HEO post on southside & on Dart line please let me know

Macy

From the Indo/ Unison http://www.unison.ie/irish_independent/stories.php3?ca=9&si=1703768&issue_id=14749

Job move shambles as just 750 opt to go

Plan to decentralise 10,000 civil servants at standstill

THE Government's ill-fated plan to move 10,000 public servants out of Dublin has ground to a halt.

Fewer than 1,000 staff have moved in the three years since the decentralisation plan was announced. And the Irish Independent has learned that some of those who have made the move were already based outside Dublin.

The costly shambles was denounced last night by Opposition politicians.

Labour's finance spokeswoman Joan Burton said the latest figures proved the Government had pulled a "political stroke" when announcing the plan in December 2003.

The plan was unveiled in the 2003 Budget by then Finance Minister Charlie McCreevy, who warned it would be an "electoral catastrophe" if the 10,000 transfers had not been completed by the next general election. But only about 750 public servants have moved so far and the Government's Decentralisation Implementation Group (DIG) concedes that, at best, only around 2,000 will be in new locations by the time of the election next year.

The latest figures show that:

* Only about 750 staff will have moved by the end of the year.

* Only two of the 390 FAS head office staff destined for Birr have actually moved to the Co Offaly town - and they were new recruits.

* Not a single one of 11 recent FAS head office promotions has opted to leave Dublin.

The bill for the entire decentralisation project was originally put at €900m for sites and accommodation alone.

To date non-property costs, such as additional training, planning and staff transfers, have cost the taxpayers €1.6m, according to the DIG .

So far, the Office of Public Works, which is managing the property aspects of the programme, has committed €36m on 23 site acquisitions.

It has also brought in over €300m on a number of high-profile State property sales in Dublin.

Finance Minister Brian Cowen said the aim of the programme was to match as closely as possible, in time and cost terms, the acquisition of property outside Dublin with the disposal of property in the capital.

Green Party finance spokesman Dan Boyle described the decentralisation project as a "flawed concept".

"The figures speak for themselves," he said.

"Even of those who have applied, most are not based in the Dublin area. It's just another reshuffling of the deckchairs."

Ms Burton said it was quite clear that the Government's targets would not be met.

"The Government is now scrambling to create a smokescreen that the decentralisation programme is back on track," she said.

"The Government is proceeding to purchase land and offices. The reality of the figures is that very significant numbers of public servants are choosing the stay-at-home in Dublin option.

"Decentralisation as set out by this Government is a political stroke. The taxpayer is paying the cost in terms of what's happening."

Fine Gael finance spokesman Richard Bruton said the low take-up showed the Government had "manifestly" failed.

The only state agency to decentralise so far has been a new chemicals safety unit established by the HSA in Kilkenny.

Gerard Flynn and Fionnan Sheahan

NewDubliner

This from the Irish Daily Mail, the figures for land/buildings sold includes properties that were not part of the decentralisation scheme.

We shall not be moved!
Irish Daily Mail
Mon, 23 Oct 2006
FEWER than 700 out of a proposed 10,000 civil servants will be transferred out of Dublin by the end of this year, according to the latest figures.

The massively disappointing Department of Finance estimate shows that the decentralisation programme is an even bigger disaster than previously believed.

Former Minister for Finance Charlie McCreevy announced the plan in the 2003 budget with a strict deadline of the end of this year for its full implementation.

But the Government's Decentralisation Implementation Group has now conceded that a mere 700 will have moved by the McCreevy dead-Line and that only 2,000, or 20 per cent of the intended total, will have transferred by the end of 2007.

There has been huge opposition from civil service unions to the plan and some Government Ministers now concede that it was hopelessly ambitious.

They also see it as a chink in the Government's armour at election time. Both Taoiseach Bertie Ahern ind Finance Minister Brian Cowen see the decentralisation time bomb is a potential vote loser. 'Bertie is furious that McCreevy's plan is going to cost them a huge amount of votes. It's become a complete and utter disaster,' said a senior Government source.

'The only bright spot is the Opposition have to be careful about attacking it because most of them supported it when it was first launched. They thought it was going to bring jobs to their constituencies, but the only place jobs have gone is to Laois Offaly where Parlon and Cowen are based.'

The bill for the entire decentralisation project was originally put at EUR900million for sites and accommodation alone. So far, the Office of Public Works, which is managing the property aspects of the programme, has committed EUR36million to 23 site acquisitions, but it has also brought in more than EUR300million on a number of high-profile State property sales in Dublin.

Green Party finance spokesman Dan Boyle described the project as a 'flawed concept'. 'The figures speak for themselves,' he said.

Ironically, the Department of Finance, where the original plan was hatched, is forking out nearly EUR17million on a new office in the centre of the capital. The Office of Public Works, which is answerable to the Department of Finance, said a contract worth EUR17million has been signed with one of the country's biggest construction companies to carry out a major redevelopment of a State-owned building on Dublin's Merrion Row.

Part of the contract includes the building of a pedestrian tunnel connecting the development to Government Buildings. Under the plans, 180 officials from Brian Cowen's department will move out of rented premises around the city when the renovations are finished.

Another 300 staff will work around the corner on Merrion Street, further 120 officials will be based in Tullamore, Co. Offaly. The building was formerly used by the National Museum of Ireland.

Confirming the development yesterday, a spokesman explained that the building backs on to the Department of the Taoiseach and it could be a security risk if it were to fall into private hands.

The contract was signed by the Office of Public Works, which is overseen by Minister for State Tom Parlon, the man who has responsibility for the decentralisation programme.

The move also bucks the trend of selling off valuable State-owned property in the city centre. The Department of Justice building on St Stephen's Green has been sold off and there are also plans to dispose of Hawkins House, the Department of Health's HQ.

Last year the Government raised EUR200million from the sale of such properties. This development will involve the construction of a six storey office block at 7-9 Merrion Row.

NewDubliner

This from the Sunday Tribune, the most important fact, that most of the expensively trained experts will have to be replaced is somewhat lost among the other points

Data centre move in danger due to poor power supply
Sunday Tribune
Sun, 22 Oct 2006,
PLANS to move more than 800 Dublin-based government IT staff into new world-class data centres around the country are in jeopardy because there may not be enough electricity to power such centres outside the capital, according to the Department of Finance.

As part of the government's plan to decentralise 10,000 public servants, finance minister Brian Cowen wants to shift specialist IT staff working in Revenue Commissioners and the departments of health, finance and agriculture into world-class 'data warehouses' outside Dublin.

Because very few of the 835 IT staff actually want to move out of Dublin, however, a feasibility study was conducted into the plan. This has unearthed several problems, including limited electricity supply outside the country's main urban centres, and the move is now being reconsidered.

The data centres could only be located in the greater Dublin, Limerick or Cork regions," according to the study, which was presented to the government's decentralisation implementation group. It went on to point out the need for these centres to "maintain replicated versions of key data in as near to real time as possible which has distance limitations even using high-speed fibre-optic connections".

But an ESB spokesman denied that the company could not supply the necessary power in provincial locations. "Certainly, we couldn't do it tomorrow because the cost of maintaining large power supply lines throughout the country would be prohibitive.

"But once we have advance warning, save in west Donegal and west Galway where the whole system needs an upgrade, we could supply the required power anywhere in the country," said the ESB spokesman.

In addition to the power supply limitations, the Department of Finance said that given the sensitivity of the data held in these new centres and international data protections laws, it would have concerns about the security of the data managed by the private sector. "Government bodies would need robust assurances that data centre operators could protect the security of public service data," said the Finance report.

The_Conductor

NewDubliner wrote:

Confirming the development yesterday, a spokesman explained that the building backs on to the Department of the Taoiseach and it could be a security risk if it were to fall into private hands.

Yes.....
That would be the Stationary store which is part of the Department of Agriculture/Army Barracks complex which exits onto Merrion Square. The only way it would possibly fall into private hands is if someone in the OPW decided to sell it, its been in State hands from the outset...... The Department of Finance Staff are currently in rented accommmodation at 2-4 Merrion Row (next door to the Old Irish Ferries Offices).

Its amazing the reporter never checked to see where exactly these properties actually are.....

what to do?

new to this. dont have time to read 84 pages, but scanned through the more recent stuff.

what do people think of the career prospects if committed to remaining in dublin??

have been offered a HEO post in an awful place (not going to name it). On a pannel which expires shortly after christmas and dont expect another offer. Been in the civil service a good while at this stage.

If i go down the country and sign up for three years, will i ever get back to dublin??

would i be mad to go?? i could do with the money and i think its about time that i started moving up if i ever want to get anywhere. will this all fizzle out after the next election?

to be honest, i feel that if i dont take this i could be stuck at my grade for several years. have undergrad, h.dip and masters and dont see any difficulty getting a job outside the civil service, but i'd like to make a career for myself at what i've been doing now for nearly a decade.

also the fact that my family, friends, past-times, sports clubs, house (which i've only recently moved into - but bought off the plans a few years ago) are all based in dublin. if i go i'll be totally on my own in the middle of no-where!

any comments or advice?