A spokeswoman for the department confirmed it has leased a building in the grounds of the recently refurbished Station House Hotel in Clifden, which will be used as temporary accommodation for 10 public servants who work on the department's rural social scheme.

But she was unable to say how much it will cost the department for the temporary use of the hotel building, which could be used for anything up to a year.

Neither was she able to say why the department was in such a rush to get the staff to Clifden by next month.

Minister O Cuiv confirmed that the 40 staff in total who work for Pobal, the community service programme, are set to move to Clifden. The 10 staff moving into the Station House Hotel grounds next month represent the first phase of the move.

The remainder should have moved by May, even though the department has not yet signed off on the acquisition of a site in Clifden for the construction of a permanent building to house the 40 Pobal staff.

It is therefore extremely unlikely that a permanent building will be ready for the remaining 30 staff to move to Clifden in four months' time. It is unclear, then, if these 30 staff will also move into the Station House Hotel in the interim.

O Cuiv said he is only now seeking applications for the jobs in Clifden. When the proposed move was first announced in 2004, of the 42 jobs to be transferred to Clifden, just one public servant in Dublin and two in the rest of the country expressed an interest in the move to the west.