The Government's plans to decentralise thousands of civil servants outside Dublin will be announced on a phased basis over several years in an attempt to avoid the political embarrassment of telling some towns they have not secured an office.
The ambitious programme, announced 4½ years ago, is due to begin later this year, but informed sources say it will take anything between seven and 10 years before it is completed.
The programme has been the subject of fierce lobbying from more than 130 towns seeking to benefit from the plans.
However, a phased announcement would help dilute anger from areas which feel they have been left out of the process and lessen its impact as an issue in the local elections in May next year.
Political and planning considerations are understood to have played a key role in the decision to announce the decentralisation plans over a long period of time.
Officials say that due to disruption caused by relocating a single department or agency, a phased process would be the most effective way of carrying out the decentralisation programme.
The programme was originally announced in December 1999, when the Minister for Finance, Mr McCreevy, outlined plans for the largest decentralisation programme in the history of the State.
The Minister said Government Departments and non-commercial semi-State bodies would be identified for relocation by the middle of the following year.
The plans were delayed several times, and in last year's Programme for Government the Coalition again pledged to press ahead with decentralisation, taking into account the National Spatial Strategy as part of its plans for balanced regional development.
There are also indications that the scale of the programme may be reduced. Mr McCreevy said at the time it would involve around 10,000 people, but officials are careful to say that "up to 10,000" jobs will be moved.
The process will be voluntary for civil servants, but unions say they are angry at the lack of consultation on the issue.
Mr Blair Horan, general secretary of the Civil and Public Service Union, the largest union representing civil servants, said they were still "in the dark" over what was planned.
"We're still waiting for the Minister to come back to us and disclose his plans. We made an input into the process at the start, but we feel we should be consulted. We support decentralisation, but the numbers and locations need to be carefully considered," he said.
A spokesman for the Department of Finance said it was a complex operation which needed to be handed carefully.
"A huge number of issues must be considered, and we are not going to be rushed into any decisions," he said.
There are around 14,000 civil servants based outside the capital, while more than 15,000 are in Dublin. The Government could also save substantial amounts of money through decentralisation by giving up expensive office space in the capital. The State spends around €80 million on rent on office accommodation in Dublin city centre, according to official estimates.
