Fico: Second Wave of District Office Lay-offs Halted

Bratislava, 10 November (TASR) – A second round of lay-offs at district offices has been suspended, Prime Minister Robert Fico (Smer-SD) announced after the special emergency session of the government on Monday. The head of the executive explained that the decision is aimed at preventing the functioning of these institutions from being jeopardised by a reduction in staffing levels. "I've met representatives of the district offices, who warned me that lay-offs at this pace could extend waiting times for administrative decisions," said Fico. He added that around 450 employees across Slovakia were expected to lose their jobs in the planned wave of redundancies, but the measure wouldn't have generated "a particularly significant amount of savings". While acknowledging the need to streamline state administration, Fico stressed that this mustn't come at the expense of the functioning of district offices, which serve as the state's extended arm in the regions. "I've therefore asked the ministers of the interior [Matus Sutaj Estok – Voice-SD] and finance [Ladislav Kamenicky – Smer-SD] to meet again and prepare a reasonable proposal," the Prime Minister added, noting that it should be ready in the next few days. mf/df