The Impact trade union has said it will ballot its members on withdrawing co-operation from the Government's decentralisation programme.
The decision was taken because of the Government's unwillingness to address specialist staff concerns, the union said yesterday.
Impact represents more than 1,200 civil servants and State agency staff who are earmarked for decentralisation.
According to the union, only about 15 per cent of these employees have opted to relocate under the programme.
At a special meeting of the union's decentralisation subcommittee, it was decided to initially ballot members in the Department of the Environment, the Irish Prison Service, Ireland Aid, the Valuation Office, Geological Survey of Ireland, Agricultural Laboratories and Place Names.
If the ballot for industrial action, to be held in the next few weeks, is endorsed, members will withdraw their co-operation with "advanced parties" moving to decentralised locations.
They will not co-operate with the training of new staff hired for decentralised offices or with "process mapping", the drawing up of detailed descriptions of jobs earmarked for decentralisation when existing staff choose to remain in Dublin.
They will also refuse to give briefing information to those planning or implementing the decentralisation programme.
Louise O'Donnell, national secretary of Impact, said that staff in other departments and offices could be balloted later if firm assurances over jobs and careers were not forthcoming from the Government.
"A withdrawal of co-operation by Impact would be a further serious blow to decentralisation because the union is the sole representative of specialist civil servants, on whom many departments and offices depend."
She said specialist staff see their colleagues in administrative grades making progress on many issues, with the Department of Finance actively working to iron out problems, but that real threats to specialist jobs and careers have yet to be dealt with.
"With some organisations due to move within months, it's put our members in an impossible position," she said.
The union also said that Tom Parlon, Minister of State for the Office of Public Works, had given written assurances that Dublin-based specialists in the OPW could continue to do their jobs when their headquarters moved to Trim.
He also said new staff would not be hired to take the jobs of those who remain in Dublin.
The union said it would now seek similar assurances from all Ministers whose departments were earmarked for decentralisation.
"We will only withdraw co-operation if we don't get these commitments, which would simply put meat on the bones of the Taoiseach's promise that the jobs and careers of staff who choose to stay in Dublin would not be affected by decentralisation," said Ms O'Donnell.
