Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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219. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the extent to which DVO and RVO staff at Naas, County Kildare have been augmented in line with demand; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [50200/21]

Charlie McConalogue (Donegal, Fianna Fail)
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My Department is committed to ensuring that a skilled and motivated workforce is in place to meet its priority business needs and utilises workforce planning to identify and address these needs for all our locations.

My Department’s office in Naas, Co. Kildare currently has a total of 47 staff assigned to it. This compares to 44 last year. The Department is increasing resources in the Naas Regional Veterinary Office (RVO) in line with increasing demands. There are currently four vacancies being addressed to supplement existing staff numbers in the context of the expected increase in workload arising from the potential demand for equine certification in the context of Brexit, as well as the further roll-out of the badger vaccination programme.

Recruitment is ongoing in my Department, and posts continue to be advertised by either the Public Appointments Service (PAS) or by my Department's Human Resources Division to actively address these, taking into account the balance of needs and resources across the Department.

New recruitment campaigns for veterinary and technical staff are underway to address future requirements and these campaigns will address the remaining vacancies in Naas for two veterinary inspectors and two technical agricultural officers.