Kathleen Lynch (Cork North Central, Labour)

I am replying to the debate on behalf of the Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Food and I thank the Deputy for raising the matter. I hope the reply clarifies the process that has been undertaken. As part of an ongoing process of reviews of key areas of departmental activities, the structure of the Department's network of local offices was reviewed in 2008-09. Following extensive internal analysis of the various options, a substantial programme of rationalisation was agreed by the Minister in July 2009 and these proposals were endorsed by the Government on 15 July 2009.

This restructuring of the Department's geographic and regional spread was geared towards enhancing service delivery to farmers and to the agrifood sector generally. This was achieved through widening the scope and availability of services at all offices and by combining under one single geographic location the services that were previously delivered in various locations in respect of district veterinary operations, forestry operations and agricultural environment and structures support services. The benefits of this concentration of resources and professional expertise at all regional offices has provided customers with access to services at any of the regional offices within the network and not just the office where the customer is resident, as was the case in the past.

Under the Government approved plan, instead of having a presence in every county, or more than one in many counties, a new regional structure of 16 offices will replace a total of 58 separate office locations throughout the country. This plan is in its final phase and is due to be completed within the next two months. Under the plan, 13 of the 16 regional offices have been established at Castlebar, Clonakilty, Cork city, Drumshanbo, Enniscorthy, Galway, Navan, Limerick, Raphoe, Roscommon town, Tipperary town, Tralee and Waterford city. By the end of May, following the establishment of regional offices at Cavan, Naas and Tullamore, it is expected that the full 16 regional office network will be complete and 38 offices will have closed to the public. The DVO element of the Department's Ballybay office will transfer to Cavan as set out in the 2009 plan, although this office will continue in operation engaged in other activities on behalf of this Department and the Department of the Environment, Heritage and Local Government.

The reorganisation of the various activities of the Department over recent years has been a key driver in reducing its overall cost base. Since 2005, the Department has reduced its staff by almost 1,500. Changes have led to the redeployment of approximately 400 staff to other Departments, including the Department of Justice, Equality and Law Reform for the operation of the PULSE system in Castlebar, and to local offices of the Department of Social Protection and, to a lesser extent, other Departments. In addition, a further 600 staff were redeployed internally to new and expanding work areas, including the single payment scheme and the implementation of new environmental, food safety and animal health controls required by the EU.

These savings were identified as a result of the effects of changes in the Department's work practices, improved business processes, the greater use of computerisation and the wind up of livestock offices. They reflect many of the changes in policy direction arising from CAP reform, the continued implementation of the Department's decentralisation plan, the findings of the organisational review programme and the objectives set out in the Government's Transforming Public Services programme.

The internal reviews carried out into the Department's operations have highlighted changes in the workload of the local office network arising from a significant decreases in the incidence of animal diseases; CAP reform, which gave rise to significant changes in the nature of farm-related schemes and services and the consequential manner in which these are delivered; significant investment in information technology, especially in the areas of animal health and welfare, customer management, animal movement identification and the management of field inspections; reduced footfall in offices nationwide driven by greater levels of in-house efficiency and improved online services to customers; and advances in broader infrastructural areas such as transport and communications.

Bearing these changes in mind, the aim of the local office reorganisation is to rationalise the overall number of locations across the country to facilitate the more efficient management of schemes, services and disease levels and to enhance services to clients of the Department. In addition, there are significant savings in the resources deployed to these activities.

The financial savings from the reorganisation of the local offices are very significant and for 2011 the reduction in running costs amount to some €20 million and the reduction of more than 250 staff. For 2012, the reduction in running costs is expected to be some €30 million with an overall reduction from the programme of over 400 staff.

I take this opportunity of expressing my appreciation to the staff in local offices for their contribution to the work of the Department and to their continued commitment to providing a quality service to all its stakeholders. I would also like to assure this House and the Department's key clients of our continued commitment to providing an exemplary support service across all areas of departmental activities, which I strongly believe will be best delivered through continued reform and innovation. I thank the Deputy for raising the matter.

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