Charlie McConalogue (Donegal, Fianna Fail)
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498. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the cost of his Department's stand at the National Ploughing Championships 2018; the number of staff deployed from his Department for the week; and the cost of same. [40347/18]

Michael Creed (Cork North West, Fine Gael)
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The National Ploughing Championships is one of the key events in the farming calendar in Ireland and annually provides the farming community with the opportunity to interact directly on a face to face basis with my Department.

Effectively, we operate a fully resourced office of the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine on site. Farmers are given the opportunity for direct access to many areas of my Department to answer any queries or resolve any issues they may have, and this year my Department Officials dealt with over 9,000 queries, somewhat less than normal, due to the poor weather conditions. This figure does not reflect the entire footfall at the Department's stand, with many customers obtaining information without lodging an official query with the Department.

There are a number of costs associated with my Department having a fully functioning, professional presence at the National Ploughing Championships. This year’s total costs amounted to approximately €128,861 excluding VAT. This figure includes €98,798 for the supply, installation and removal of Exhibition accommodation and €9,680 site fee to the National Ploughing Association. The remainder includes costs for entrance passes for staff working at the event, security, broadband etc.

Throughout the event there were 81 staff positions directly dealing with the public and another nine in support roles such as IT and marshalling to be staffed at all times over the four days of the Ploughing. So at any one time, there were 90 staff members providing a service to the farming community in my Department’s marquee.