John Cummins (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the commitment of the Minister of State. I will take up a couple of points. In a reply to a parliamentary question issued on 3 November the Department stated the 16 regional veterinary offices currently had a complement of 738 staff working and 86 vacancies. Today the figure provided by the Minister of State for 7 November indicates only 34 vacancies. Either there was a massive increase in staff between 3 and 7 November or one of the figures is wrong. I would appreciate it if the Minister of State could investigate that matter, because I am taking this matter very seriously.

The figure the Minister of State gave for the incidence rate of 5.05% for Waterford is higher than the 4.78% that was provided to me on 26 October. Frankly, the Cork figure of 8.34% is very alarming and that is reflective of what farmers are telling me on the ground. Clearly we have a rising incidence rate and we need to fill those vacancies without delay, specifically the three technical vacancies in both Waterford and Cork North RVOs. As I said, farmers will work with the Department but they must have the confidence the RVOs are fully staffed to assist them in tackling what is a very serious problem in these areas. I know the Minister of State is committed to assisting in that regard.