Regions vying for benefits of decentralisation

BUSINESS 2000: When the Government announced in the December 1999 budget that 10,000 civil service jobs were to be relocated outside Dublin, business leaders and political representatives from more than 100 towns around the State submitted proposals on why their town would be the ideal location for a Government department.

Public sector offices decentralised from an overcrowded capital city would act as a springboard to economic development for many regional towns. But two years later, campaigners are still waiting to see if their towns will benefit.

"It has disappointed us a great deal that the Government has decided to put decentralisation on the back-burner until after the general election," says Ms Vicki Nash, chairwoman of the community council in Newcastle West, Co Limerick.

"The atmosphere changes in a town when you have something like a Government department," she says. "Government offices serve as a focal point for towns and are an attraction for other businesses."

Newcastle West had united with the urban district councils in Kilrush, Co Clare, and Listowel, Co Kerry, to form the Integrated Shannon Decentralisation Network and submit a joint application to the Department of Finance.

"We were the only towns to apply as part of a c-ooperative effort," says Ms Nash. "There was a certain logic to it, because each of the towns is about the same size and form a geographical triangle, but none of them are big enough to accommodate an entire department on their own."

Despite the delays to the Government's decentralisation programme, the campaign was not a wasted effort. "We produced quite an elaborate document - a glossy brochure, really - giving information on infrastructure available in the town, and that was a good exercise," Ms Nash says. "It's been useful for people working in Limerick who wanted to move out of the city."

Newcastle West tends to lose its graduates to nearby cities, she says. Limerick is not that far away but the problem with so many people commuting is they spend less money locally.

A relocated public service office might not directly provide local employment, unless city-dwelling civil servants were unwilling to uproot and make the transfer to a rural area. But a fresh influx of workers would bring spin-off benefits to local businesses.

"There's no doubt that a decentralised department or agency would have a huge impact on the area," agrees Mr Tom Byrne, director of the South East Regional Authority. "Office accommodation would have to be provided, or maybe even built, and there would be the added purchasing power of 100 or 200 people and their families who moved."

Mr Byrne regrets that the kind of co-operation in evidence in other regions is missing from the south-east because of inter-county rivalries. "We have always felt in the south-east that we could be better at lobbying. We have five quite strong counties, and we don't always speak with one voice. It's not like the west, where everyone seems to be on the same side."

In the west, the focus of groups such as the Atlantic University Alliance and the Atlantic Corridor initiative is to retain high-skilled graduates in the region and develop the infrastructure needed to attract investment from industry.

But according to the chief executive of Galway Chamber of Commerce, the relocation of the Irish Marine Institute to Galway is a welcome development.

"It makes more sense to locate our national marine institute next to our greatest expanse of water - the Atlantic Ocean - rather than next to the Irish Sea, and we would see the move as the chance to develop fishing, tourist and marine science industries in the region," says Mr Michael Coyle. "A disproportionate amount of people are being sucked into the Dublin area. Anyone can see that there's no space there but, in this part of the world, we have plenty of space but a lack of infrastructure."

Some campaigners believe that a decentralised civil service would act as a spur for improving regional infrastructure such as roads and broadband connectivity.

According to the Tánaiste, Ms Harney, it can also set an example to industry and help correct economic imbalances among the regions. "We cannot continue to urge industrialists, many of them from outside of Ireland, to locate their new and expanding businesses in regional locations unless we, ourselves, are equally prepared to consider such an option," she said in 2000.

Although investment from a large multinational corporation might initially create more jobs for local people, public sector sources of employment can bring stability to areas where high percentages of the workforce are dependent on a handful of companies.

"Government departments are much more reliable than industry in the long-term - they won't up sticks too quickly if they find somewhere cheaper to operate," according to Ms Nash.

Mr Tom Crosbie, president of Longford Chamber of Commerce and Industry, believes decentralisation creates long-term confidence.

During the 1990s, offices from the Department of Social, Community and Family Affairs dealing with carers' benefits, disability allowances and other welfare supports moved to Longford town.

"Longford has certainly suffered with foreign industry but I don't think there has been one bad side-effect of social welfare offices relocating here," Mr Crosbie says.

The Longford Chamber of Commerce has lobbied the Government for further decentralisation to the town and hopes that an enlarged public sector presence will provide more replacement jobs for those lost when one of the county's major employers, denim manufacturing company Atlantic Mills, closed three years ago.

The Chamber of Commerce, Longford County Council and Longford County Enterprise Board are promoting the county as an attractive place for people to relocate, as they can avail of tax relief on the properties they purchase under the Rural Renewal Scheme.

One advantage of the decentralisation of social welfare offices is that staff from Longford and the surrounding counties no longer have to commute to the capital to work.

"There is an early-bird train from Longford to Dublin that leaves at 6.15 a.m. and it's crowded on a daily basis," says Mr Crosbie. "It just seems wrong, with so much modern technology like e-mail and with Dublin itself being choked."

THE IRISH TIMES

BUSINESS 2000 - 5TH EDITION

The Business 2000 column provides information for business studies teachers and students on the current business climate.

It is intended to complement the Irish Times Business 2000 multimedia resource package developed by Woodgrange Technologies, which is sent to all second-level schools and selected third-level institutions.

Business 2000 is published every Friday. The Teachers' Support Desk at Woodgrange Technologies can be reached at 01 - 4352514 or by email at: business 2000@woodgrange.com.

Companies participating in Business 2000 are: Allied Irish Banks; An Garda Síochána; Bus Éireann; Cadburys; Central Bank of Ireland; Coca-Cola Ireland; Coillte Teoranta; CRH plc; Dell; Department of Finance; Elan Corporation plc; Enterprise Ireland; Glaxosmithkline; Guinness Ireland Group; Health & Safety Authority; Irish Shell; Masterfoods Ireland Ltd; Musgraves; National Development Plan; National Roads Authority; National Treasury Management Agency; Radio Teilifís Éireann; The Courts Service; The Office of the Revenue Commissioners; and Wyeth Medica Ireland.