Vol. 439 No. 7
79 Mr. L. Burke asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and Forestry the reason his Department's offices in Cork are now only open from 10 a.m. to 12 noon every day when previously the offices were open from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., particularly in view of the fact that the closure is causing great inconvenience to farmers in Cork; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
From Monday, 14 February 1994, my Department's local offices, the special beef premium unit in Portlaoise and the Castlebar office have been open to the public between the hours of 9.30 a.m. and 12.30 p.m. Previously, the local offices were open to the public between 10 a.m. and 12.30 p.m. and 2 p.m. and 4.00 p.m.
The measure was taken specifically to facilitate final processing of the 1993 headage and premium schemes and to expedite payments of grants under the scheme. The position is being kept under review and I expect that the offices will return to normal opening hours when satisfactory progress has been made.
