Jan O'Sullivan (Limerick East, Labour)
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Question 34: To ask the Minister for Agriculture and Food the way in which it is intended to redeploy the estimated 400 staff previously employed in administering farm income support schemes; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [17394/05]

Mary Coughlan (Donegal South West, Fianna Fail)
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I am conscious of the need to manage in an orderly way the redeployment of the 400 staff being released between now and January 2006 and a number of steps have been taken in this regard. In early 2004, following discussions with the unions and staff associations, my Department adopted a policy of recruiting only temporary staff to fill vacancies, where possible and appropriate. As a result, my Department currently has close on 80 temporary staff whose contracts terminate before 2006. This will greatly facilitate the adjustments that must be made consequent on the introduction of the single payment scheme.

In February of this year the Government decided to redeploy up to 300 staff to the Garda Síochána. Arising from that decision, it is proposed to redeploy staff from my offices in Castlebar and surrounding towns to the Garda national data quality assurance bureau, which it is intended will operate the PULSE system from Michael Davitt House in Castlebar. Detailed planning for the implementation of this proposal is ongoing and involves the Department of Finance, the Department of Justice, Equality and Law Reform and the Garda. This will provide a welcome and opportune means of redeploying a large number of agriculture staff, up to 160, who will become free in Castlebar and surrounding offices towards the end of the year.

My Department has also opened discussions with other Departments with substantial networks of local offices, particularly the Revenue Commissioners and the Department of Social and Family Affairs, and will transfer staff to fill vacancies in those Departments as the opportunity arises. Discussions with staff associations and the Department of Finance on the issues that such transfers inevitably give rise to are ongoing.

At an early stage in the process, a sub-committee of my Department's departmental council was established to assist in managing the change process in terms of the various work and staff changes that will occur and in defining the basic principles to apply in the context of the redeployment of staff. Assuming the continuing co-operation of unions and Departments, the approaches listed above should allow staff that are freed up to be redeployed to work in other Departments with the minimum of delay.

However, it must be recognised that there continues to be exceptional work demands on the Department in 2005. The single payment scheme involves €1.3 billion to be paid to over 130,000 farmers in December. At the same time, some €400 million under the old coupled schemes has to be delivered, largely by 30 June, and €230 million is due to be paid to 100,000 farmers under the disadvantaged area scheme by late September. To deal with this exceptional work load many staff that are currently being freed up in local offices throughout the country are being transferred on a temporary basis to urgent work on the single payment scheme in Portlaoise.