asked the Minister for Agriculture and Fisheries if he is satisfied that the new amalgamated land project and farm improvements scheme offices have adequate secretarial service.
213.
Written Answers. - Farm Improvements Scheme.
212.
asked the Minister for Agriculture and Fisheries if he will indicate the backlog of work in the various offices which administer the new farm development scheme.
With the permission of the Ceann Comhairle I propose to take Questions Nos. 212 and 213 together.
I am satisfied that the clerical assistance available in local offices of the farm development services is adequate to meet the normal needs of those offices. Temporary difficulties may, of course, occur in individual offices due to unavoidable absences of staff or for other reasons. Such difficulties can be dealt with by appropriate ad hoc arrangements in each case.
The state of the work varies from one office to another depending on the volume of work being handled, the staffing position and other factors. The volume of work which accumulated in the early stages of the farm modernisation scheme is being gradually reduced in all offices but for the reasons mentioned will take longer to clear in some than in others.