Under the plan proposed by the Department of Agriculture, Food and Forestry, local offices will have responsibility only for suckler cow, sheep premia, headage payments and area aid payments. All premia relating to male beef cattle will be handled in a new office to be constructed in Portlaoise. The centralisation of beef premia is expected to be in place by June this year. It is understood that a temporary building will be leased in Dublin for one to two years while the new facility is being built in Portlaoise. The Department has indicated that the move is aimed at improving the service to farmers and at speeding up payments. Indeed, a spokesman for the Department said that the move involves the introduction of a high-tech computerised system aimed at reducing errors. However, local staff point out that past delays were due to lack of staff at local level.
The IFA livestock chairman, Mr. Richard Booth, recently criticised the plan and said that the Department should bring their services closer to the farmer rather than centralise, particularly in the light of the extra complications associated with the plethora of form filling under the Common Agricultural Policy reform. In The Kerryman this week the local IFA President said that this proposal, if implemented, will adversely affect up to 10,000 farmers throughout Kerry who previously processed their applications through the Department of Agriculture, Food and Forestry office in Tralee. This move will cause great inconvenience to farmers throughout rural Ireland.
Those of us who have represented people with problems relating to beef premia are aware that the local Departmental staff help farmers complete application forms and so on. If a problem arises farmers have only to go into their local Department office. In Kerry that office is in Tralee. If the process is centralised in Portlaoise will farmers be expected to telephone with every query and wait for an answer, thus adding greatly to their telephone expenses? It is not unusual to be kept waiting for five to ten minutes while someone checks a file. For instance, how will the Portlaoise office correlate files relating to TB with headage payment files for the purpose of sorting out invalid tag ownership, ages of animals etc?
It is worth pointing out also that under the area aid scheme farmers will want to know exactly how many livestock units they have applied for before completing suckler cow forms. In some cases it may benefit the farmer to omit some sucklers to get the full benefit of the area aid. However, under the new system they will not know what is happening. Herd owners applying to join the scheme for the first time will find it very difficult also.
I am in favour of decentralisation. I do not begrudge Portlaoise an office under the Department of Agriculture, Food and Forestry. It is good that offices are being moved out of Dublin but what is proposed in this instance is a reversal of the whole decentralisation policy in the sense that it is taking services and power away from local offices, which is contrary to this Government's philosophy. In view of the hardship and confusion this move would cause for many farmers in rural Ireland I ask that it be reconsidered.