Flaherty calls for decentralisation programme

Proposals for a decentralisation programme were mooted recently in a discussion in the Houses of the Oireachtas.

The idea to move civil servants out of Dublin to Longford, Westmeath and Offaly was floated during a Seanad debate.

Fianna Fáil Senator Joe Flaherty raised the issue with Minister for Public Expenditure, Infrastructure, Public Service Reform and Digitalisation, Jack Chambers, during the debate.

Senator Flaherty made the proposal saying: “We have far too many Government agencies still within the confines of Dublin city. We have staff on low incomes within those Departments struggling to make ends meet. There is a consummate need, and a demand, for a major decentralisation campaign.”

In 2003 the government announced its intention to see 10,300 civil servants relocated from Dublin to 53 centres in 25 counties. By 2027, when the government scrapped the plan in the face of resistance from public service unions, only 2,000 had moved.

Deputy Flaherty believes there is more of an appetite among civil servants for such a move, and that it would address issues like housing and cost of living difficulties: “The obvious solution for that is a sustained and planned decentralisation and taking as many Government functions and Departments out of Dublin and move them to the midlands, primarily Longford, Westmeath and Offaly.”