Martin Ferris (Kerry North-West Limerick, Sinn Fein)
Link to this: Individually | In context

Question 179: To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if his attention has been drawn to the closure of the district veterinary office in Portlaoise, County Laois, and the fact that this will mean that there will be no DVO in counties Laois, Carlow, Kilkenny, Westmeath and north Tipperary; and the measures he will take to address this void. [5769/11]

Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context

Decisions regarding the reorganisation of my Department's local office structure were taken almost two years ago following an extensive review undertaken within the Department. The closure of the District Veterinary Office in Portlaoise represents the final phases of implementation of that review.

Paramount to restructuring the local office network was concern to ensure a high quality service to farmers and food business operators throughout the country. The new structure not only maintains a high quality service but in fact, will enhance the level of service available, while at the same time driving greater efficiencies and encouraging broader flexibilities within the new Regional Office structure. Through the greater use of modern technology, the simplification of schemes and programmes, the reduction in disease levels, the uptake and availability of on-line services and the improved telephone service as a result of electronic systems, quite apart from the reduction in office footfall, the Department's public interface with its clients can now be carried out in any one of the new Regional Offices.

As a result, the number of local offices will be reduced to a sustainable level to reflect the overall reduced staffing levels within local offices and the reduced requirement for public counter services arising from the increased availability of the Department's on-line services and the success of information technology investments, especially in the areas of animal health and welfare, customer management, animal movement identification and the management of field inspections.

Instead of having a presence in every county, or more than one in many counties, a new regional structure of offices will replace a total of fifty eight separate office locations throughout the country. Farmer clients in neighbouring counties can access any of the regional offices in the network and all regional offices are geared up to provide service to farmers and food business operators.