Denis Naughten (Roscommon-South Leitrim, Independent)
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362. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine further to Parliamentary Question No. 173 of 10 October 2013, if he will ensure that there is a public desk made available for farmers in the west of Ireland who have administrative/clerical queries for his Department, in view of the age profile of farmers and the low computer literacy skills of many older farmers and their households; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [48090/13]

Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)
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As I explained to the Deputy in response to Question 173 on 10 October last, the centralisation of administrative functions in the local offices to two centres fits in both with my Department's objectives in driving efficiency and savings and also with the broad public service reform agenda. The administrative functions have already been transferred out of a number of regional offices (notably, Ennis, Clonakilty, Limerick and Tipperary), without any negative implications for the provision of services to farmer clients. The transfer of the administrative functions out of other regional offices will be considered in light of the availability of opportunities to redeploy the staff concerned to support other critical public services.

I would like to emphasise that the Department vets, inspectors and technical officers, along with appropriate administrative support, will remain in place at the Regional Offices to service our clients across all of the schemes that are provided from these offices. In view of this, I can assure the Deputy that frontline services will be fully maintained and public access for all of the Department's stakeholders will continue to be available at these regional offices, including those located in the West of Ireland.