Dara Calleary (Mayo, Fianna Fail)
Link to this: Individually | In context

Question 430: To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Food the position regarding the reorganisation of local offices; his plans to reopen any of those offices which have been already closed; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [11198/11]

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

The reorganisation of local offices is vital to ensuring that my Department stays within its allocated spending targets. The financial savings from the reorganisation of the local offices are very significant and for 2011 the reduction in running costs amounts to some €20 million and the reduction of over 250 staff. For 2012 the reduction in running costs are expected to be some €30 million with an overall reduction from the programme of over 400 staff.

From next Monday, May 23rd local services for my Department can be accessed from any of the following offices in my Department's Regional Offices Network: Castlebar, Cavan Town, Clonakilty, Cork City, Drumshanbo, Enniscorthy, Galway, Naas, Navan, Limerick, Raphoe, Roscommon town, Tipperary Town, Tralee, Tullamore and Waterford City.

Back in 2009 my Department had 58 offices providing local services to our clients and analyses then showed that this number of offices was not sustainable for the future. Decoupling of Pillar I payments, simplification of Pillar II payments and online services has dramatically reduced the demand for my Department's local services. It was decided to move towards a network of offices, the key advantage being any client could visit any office in the network and not just the parent or County office, thus providing enhanced coverage of the Country from fewer locations. Our analysis showed that it was possible to retain just 16 of the original 58 locations while ensuring that even the most remote farms would be within a reasonable distance of a Regional Office. It was also shown that such a design would allow the Department to provide the full range of services and an enhanced service from each regional office which would not have been possible had the 58 offices been retained due to the pressure on the Department to reduce staff numbers.

Given the strength of these analyses and the fact that the resultant savings are critical to my Department staying within allocated spending targets it is not planned to reopen any offices that have already been closed.