Brendan Smith (Cavan-Monaghan, Fianna Fail)

The Government approved my plan for a reorganisation of my Department's local office network last July. The plan involves reducing, from 57 to 16, the number of offices from which the Department will operate district veterinary, forestry and agricultural environment and structures support services in the future. The decision to close some 40 offices was made only after we had completed a detailed study of the Department's operations at local level. Decisions were made in respect of the overall strategy and against a background of major changes in the Department's operating environment in recent years which were brought about by the impact of the single farm payment, benefits derived from substantial investment in information communications technology and significant reductions in the incidence of disease.

Improvements in business processes, information technology and communications will allow the Department to provide to all of its clients, the full range of services from the 16 enhanced offices set out in the plan. Departmental staff will be relocated to the enhanced offices, where appropriate, or redeployed to other areas of the Department or to other Departments or agencies. Where particular arrangements which would benefit service delivery and operational needs are identified, they will be considered on the basis of an agreed business case.

See this speech in context