Jobs to go at County Hall

Twenty-seven staff are to be selected randomly from Divisional offices in Coleraine and Londonderry, as the Department's budget is scrutinised by Minister Poots

The news was revealed by Divisional Planning Manager, Mary Macintryre, at Coleraine Borough Council last Tuesday.

The shake up comes as the Minister takes money saving measures following the downturn in the housing market in Northern Ireland.

Mrs Macintryre told councillors: "The Minister proposes to reduce the number of posts in the Department by 271.

"This will have an impact on the 69 posts in my Division. Twenty-seven will be lost - those staff members will be redeployed.

"At the minute we have only lost administration staff, no professionals have gone, but those that have left us had a lot of knowledge and ability. We will do what we can within our Department to ensure there is minimum impact on the public."

TDivisional Manager revealed more information about the shake up to The Times last week.

She said that staff would be selected on a 'random' basis for redeployment. She said that four had already been moved from the Coleraine office.

"The decision by the Minister will have a significant impact on the Department, " said Mrs Macintyre.

"Admin staff will be selected for redeployment on a random basis, following a process agreed by the trade union.

"It a very worrying time for my staff, and there is no doubt they are feeling anxious.

"Many wanted a career in planning and professional planners may find themselves in a job in another department. The Minister did say that he wanted to avoid redundancies. This is a big undertaking."

During her address to Council, Mrs Mcintryre brought some good news about the performance of her staff.

She told members that staff in her Divisional had out-performed the rest of the Northern Ireland Division.

"I am delighted that staff have achieved this high performance rate," she said.