Environment Minister Mark H Durkan has told Driver Vehicle Agency (DVA) staff he is prepared to take on Prime Minister David Cameron in an effort to save their jobs.
Three hundred staff at the DVA headquarters in Coleraine have expressed concern the service is to be centralised in Swansea, Wales. Staff at a branch at Orchard House, Foyle Street in Derry are also concerned about their future.
Mr Durkan was speaking as a public consultation process into whether DVA services should be centralised in Swansea, Wales, ended yesterday.
The Department for Transport in Westminster has proposed the closure of 39 regional offices in favour of the Swansea centralisation, claiming the move would save tax payers millions of pounds.
A decision on the centralisation is expected to be finalised at the start of the new year.
Mr Durkan, the SDLP MLA for Derry, yesterday told staff he was demanding a meeting with Transport Secretary Stephen Hammond and was prepared to take the fight to the Prime Minister.
Stating there was no “done deal,” Mr Durkan revealed he had written to MPS, all MLAs and had been assured of cross-party support.
He added: “I believe that the Assembly has to take this battle to the highest level and if that means OFMDFM going to the Prime Minister that is what needs to be done.
“It’s important that we don’t lose this fight – it’s a fight that we are united on.”
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