A move by the Government to restrict promotions in the Civil Service to staff willing to move to decentralised offices has drawn an angry reaction from unions.
They have threatened to withdraw all co-operation with the decentralisation programme unless the Department of Finance abandons the proposal.
In a position paper put to the unions at a meeting last week, the Department said promotions and related human resources practices must take account of decentralisation.
"To support the early and efficient completion of the decentralisation programme, the Department of Finance proposes that all future vacancies in general service grades should be filled by persons willing to move to a decentralised location until all decentralised posts [and any consequent vacancies in existing provincial offices] have been filled," it said.
Unions have dismissed the move as "totally unacceptable", saying it would eliminate promotion opportunities for Dublin-based civil servants for years to come. Significantly, it is opposed by unions representing civil servants of all grades, including the Civil, Public and Services Union, which supports decentralisation in general.
Mr Blair Horan, the union's general secretary, said it remained supportive of the programme, but it expected the Department to withdraw the proposal. The protection of career opportunities for Dublin-based staff was a condition of the union's continued support for the project, he said.
Mr Seán Ó Riordáin, of the Association of Higher Civil and Public Servants, which has been highly critical of aspects of the programme, accused the Department of Finance of giving Dublin-based civil servants "a strange Christmas present". He said: "It has told them 'Your career is gone'."
In a memo to branch secretaries, Mr Ó Riordáin said the reaction of Civil Service unions to the proposal had been one of complete opposition.
It was extraordinary, he claimed, that the Government was prepared to spend €900 million-plus on buildings without being prepared to invest in maintaining careers in Dublin.
The Public Service Executive Union also condemned the move.
In a memo to branch secretaries, its deputy general secretary, Mr Tom Geraghty, said the Department's proposals were "absolutely unacceptable in their entirety".
A spokesman for the Department said policy on promotions had to take account of decentralisation. "The Department has put forward proposals in this area. These are being discussed, but no decision has been made," he said.
The policy of restricting promotions to those willing to decentralise is already being applied to those transferring between Government Departments, which comprises one in three jobs being filled.
