December 2006 was chosen as the decentralisation deadline to put pressure on Ministers and Government Departments to have the programme completed before the next general election, according to the Minister for Finance.
Mr McCreevy told the Dáil he hoped the deadline would be met. "I make no apologies for saying that. It will put pressure on Ministers and politicians to ensure it is delivered." He also said that, because the programme was voluntary, "neither removal expense nor redundancy will be paid". The "map of Ireland after decentralisation, will show large clusters of public and civil servants in various regions".
The Minister said it was not his intention to ask his Department to conduct a staff survey, because it would be of limited value in advance of "clearer time lines". He added: "It took four years to make this decision and we will ensure it happens."
Answering Finance Questions, Mr McCreevy said the Government chose December 2006 "to put pressure on Ministers and Departments to ensure it is done before a certain event occurs in the summer of 2007".
He also told Labour's finance spokeswoman, Ms Joan Burton, the costs of decentralisation would actually be minimised by moving Departments out of Dublin, because rented offices in Dublin were significantly more expensive than those available outside the capital.
"By vacating existing leased or State-owned property in Dublin, the costs of new accommodation in the regions can be minimised.Decentralisation will change the way in which the public service operates in the future. In the case of promotion prospects there will continue to be, broadly speaking, the same opportunities across the civil service and public service."
But Ms Burton said that in a number of Departments only between 7 per cent and 10 per cent wanted to move. If those surveys were representative of the attitudes to decentralisation, "will the taxpayer have to foot the bill for the hundreds of civil servants who will be left in Dublin with no clear function?"
Mr McCreevy replied there would still be "plenty of public servants post-decentralisation in the Dublin region. There will be a large number of civil and public servants in the Dublin regions and there will be ample work for them to do."
