asked the Minister for Agriculture (a) if he is aware that the processing of applications under the western drainage scheme is being hampered and curtailed due to a shortage of administrative staff; if he will provide the necessary funds to employ extra clerical staff to assist the field officers in expediting the scheme; (b) if he will ensure that the grant payable to each farmer under the scheme will take account of presentday costs; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - Western Drainage Scheme.
1.
A small number of the administrative staff attached to local farm development service offices have been temporarily redeployed to deal with other schemes. This redeployment was necessary for the operation of the schemes in the most economic way. While some delays in the processing of applications may have resulted under the western drainage scheme, the position will be rectified when the staff resume their normal duties. The situation is being closely monitored to ensure that any delays are kept to the minimum.
Because of the severe pressure on Exchequer resources it has not been possible to make any revision recently in the standard national costings used to determine the amount of grant aid under the western drainage scheme. The matter is, however, kept under continuing review.
Can the Minister tell the House how many staff have been redeployed, on what schemes they are working and when his Department expect to have those staff back working on their normal duties?
I have not the number of staff who have been re-allocated. But I can assure the Deputy that in the immediate future they will be back to the offices they left.
May we take it that they will be back within a month, two months, three months or six months? Can the Minister tell us exactly what schemes they are working on? Furthermore, can he tell us why extra staff have not been deployed in this very important Department, particularly for the west?
As the Deputy will be aware, for administrative purposes, there are peaks and valleys in all offices. I understand from personnel section that the reason for this was that, in certain offices of which I am not aware — because it would be a different problem in the various counties — they have been switched around particularly in the past two months or so. I understand that most people who left the various offices will be returning there very shortly and I understand that to be four to five weeks.
Would the Minister agree that senior inspectors and staff of the Department of Agriculture are engaged on insignificant, incidental work they did not do heretofore, that a lot of time is being wasted on account of that, the time of expert senior staff in the Department?
I presume the Deputy is referring to some of the area offices around the country and that this change of clerical staff on a rotation basis has caused some problems. I am assured by the personnel section that any small problems that might have existed will be overcome.
It would appear that the Minister of State does not know the situation in some counties because he answered the question by saying that some staff engaged on land drainage schemes have been sent elsewhere. In my county there is about one and a half year's work to be done and we would need a further 50 per cent increase in the staff there to have that work carried out. I would ask him to look at the position of our county especially, because what he has said is not true of our county.
I will take up Deputy McEllistrim's point and ascertain what is the position in his county at present.
In view of the fact that the staff of the farm development service offices are now semi-unemployed because the farm modernisation scheme was scrapped, is it the intention of the Minister to redeploy these people from counties on the eastern seaboard?
I understand that some of those people have been redeployed already on other work and that they will return to their original base when the time is opportune. That was the general idea of the whole procedure.
When will that be?
Early autumn.