Hostility to the Government's decentralisation programme is growing by the day among workers in State agencies, SIPTU has claimed.
The report of the decentralisation implementation group published this week offered "little comfort" to its members, the union said.
About 2,500 workers in State agencies are to be relocated from Dublin over the next three years as part of the overall plan to move 10,000 public service staff from the capital. SIPTU says it represents more than 1,500 of the State agency workers concerned.
Mr Owen Reidy, the union's State agencies branch secretary, said more than 95 per cent of its members in the agencies facing relocation wished to remain in Dublin.
He claimed the report of the implementation group, chaired by Mr Phil Flynn, had made no allowance for the fact that the large majority of State agency staff intended to stay in the capital. "According to the report, this category will be dealt with at a later date, which is a complete insult to those who have acquired specialist skills or developed expertise in their field.
"The report also recommends that agreements on recruitment and promotions be put aside, which is completely unacceptable to us."
Mr Reidy claimed that Mr Flynn and the Minister for Finance, Mr McCreevy, had failed to take on board the differences between the Civil Service and the State agencies in relation to their remit, roles and cultures.
"Frankly, after two meetings with the Department of Finance, where our rational and genuine concerns seem to have been ignored, our members are asking why we should be involved in a process of consultation if the outcome is predetermined. It seems obvious to us there there is little flexibility in the Government's approach to decentralisation."
SIPTU, he said, would convene a meeting of its decentralisation committee in the near future to respond further to the report "and the whole decentralisation process".
