Paudge Connolly (Cavan-Monaghan, Independent)
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Question 406: To ask the Minister for Agriculture and Food if increased staffing to man Department telephone hot-lines will be provided to ease difficulties encountered by farmers seeking telephone access to resolve issues with her Department; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [16428/06]

Mary Coughlan (Donegal South West, Fianna Fail)
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In September 2005, in recognition of the significant number of queries, which farmers had in relation to the new Single Payment Scheme, I decided to establish a dedicated Call Centre in the Portlaoise Office of my Department. This Centre, which was staffed by 35 officials on a full-time basis, dealt with up to 2,500 calls per day. Subsequently, this Call Centre was replaced by a system of dedicated Lo-call numbers, which provides direct access to the County Sections dealing with the processing of individual SPS applications.

Where issues arise during processing of SPS application forms, which require to be satisfactorily resolved before payment can issue, correspondence is issued to the persons concerned, outlining the nature of the given problem. As prompt written replies to these queries allow such cases to be processed speedily to completion, I urge all farmers to reply quickly to any correspondence received from my Department.

I am determined to provide the best service possible to farmers and, in this regard, will continue to review the allocation of resources on an ongoing basis to ensure that this is achieved.