Vol. 459 No. 7
149 Mr. Ellis asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and Forestry the FDS offices and their opening hours; the hours at which a telephone service is available; the number of lines available to each office; the number of staff available to operate telephone queries at any given time; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [18899/95]
The opening hours at the Department's FDS offices are 9.30 a.m. to 12.30 p.m. and 2 p.m. to 5 p.m. A full service, including a telephone service is available to clients during these hours.
The number of external lines available to each office depends on the size of the office and its catchment area. On average FDS offices have two external lines and the larger offices have up to four lines. My Department is satisfied that there are adequate extensions for the numbers of staff in each office.
The number of staff available to operate telephone queries at any given time varies as a high proportion of the staff in these offices carry out field inspections.
