Dáil Éireann díospóireacht -
Tuesday, 7 May 1991

Vol. 407 No. 9

Adjournment Debate. - Farm Development Offices.

Mr. Sheehan

Thank you, Sir, for giving me the opportunity of raising this very important matter in the Dáil tonight. It concerns quite a number of farmers throughout our constituency of Cork South-West, which the Minister knows quite well, and throughout the country at large. A very serious situation exists in the farm development office of the Department of Agriculture and Food in Clonakilty, County Cork, and all similar offices throughout the country where a work to rule policy now appertains and field officers are unable to carry out visits to farmers owing to lack of money for travelling expenses. This is an old chestnut.

Let me say at this juncture that I would like to give a minute of my time to Deputy Michael Creed.

An Ceann Comhairle

Is that agreed? Agreed.

Mr. Sheehan

This dispute is not a new one. It commenced on 3 April this year and continues. The problem was brought about over the level of grading. It is apparent that the grading system is not satisfactory. There was a dispute in December 1989 of which the Minister is quite aware and which was settled in February 1990. Part of that settlement was that the duties in FDS offices would be examined and further discussions would take place between the Department and the staff concerned. The Department carried out their own investigation and decided that some of the work was clerical officer grading but not sufficient to merit an upgrading. How the Department arrived at this decision I do not know. The work the Department identified as clerical officer work represents the greater part of the work in the FDS offices throughout the country, but apparently the Department have turned a blind eye to that fact. At present employees in the FDS offices are the lowest paid clerical grade in the Civil Service. This is a shocking indictment of the Minister and his Department that he cannot see fit to have this serious infringement of the rights of people terminated. Ironically, the staff of those FDS offices are doing work of the highest quality.

Coupled with that dispute, all field officers in the FDS offices are unable to carry out visits to farmers owing to lack of money for travelling expenses. This is the straw which breaks the camel's back. It is a disgraceful state of affairs that field officers are not given the necessary finance to visit the farmers and approve the work done. A large number of farmers are the victims of this dispute and life is already difficult enough for the farming community without this problem.

As it is the Minister of State with responsibility for Food, Deputy Joe Walsh, who is here tonight to answer this debate, I call on him as a fellow Member of the Oireachtas in that constituency to heed my request immediately, to act in the dispute and bring an end to this work to rule policy and take immediate steps to provide adequate travelling expenses for the field officers.

I call on the Minister of State to act immediately before it is too late.

Mr. Creed

I thank Deputy Sheehan. This is the second, if not the third, time we have had an Adjournment debate on this recurring issue in the Department of Agriculture and Food's farm development offices where the farming community are being put under unfair pressure by the Department because of the Department's failure to process applications for grants.

There are two problems farmers have to confront. One is a labour relations dispute and the second is non-availability of finance for field officers to carry out inspections. Farmers have spent and invested thousands of pounds and are waiting for thousands of pounds in grants from the Department and it is unfair in the present climate to ask them to tolerate this incompetence on the part of the Department in their effort to resolve these disputes. As we are fishing from the same pool in Cork to a certain extent, the Minister of State is as much aware as I am of the difficulties. I ask him to listen to the case being put here and to do everything in his power to resolve it.

Minister of State at the Department of Agriculture and Food (Mr. Walsh)

I have listened sympathetically to the case made by my colleagues, Deputy Sheehan and Deputy Creed about this local matter which is also a serious broader issue. I concur with the remarks made about the high calibre of the staff in the Clonakilty office. They are friends of mine as well as of the Deputies.

I am aware of the work to rule which has been embarked on by members of the Civil and Public Service Union. This dispute arises from a claim by this union for the upgrading of all posts from clerical assistant to clerical officer in the Department's FDS offices. This claim follows on a major claim by the union for upgradings in the Department in 1989 when we agreed to upgrade a total of 222 members of the CPSU. The majority of the upgradings took place in the Department's local offices.

As regards the current claim, my Department examined the duties of the staff and came to the conclusion that the major portion of the duties involved are appropriate to the clerical assistant grade.

In the context of the operation of administrative budgets and the terms of the Programme for Economic and Social Progress my Department are unable to concede to the union's claim. As the House will be aware, the Government attach major importance to the terms of the programme the objectives of which are to improve the economy's internal efficiency, enhance international competitiveness and remove barriers to long run development. To these ends, the programme contains special arrangements for the operation of the pay agreement, which forms an integral part of the programme, in relation to the public service. These special arrangements provide for the negotiation of increases above the basic pay increases in certain circumstances and I would urge the union to use the machinery provided for. The union involved have accepted the terms of the agreement and are, therefore, committed to achieving a high level of efficiency in the Civil Service. I would be hopeful that it should be possible to come to an agreement in due course with the union on this matter within the terms of the programme.

I regret very much, as I am sure do the Deputies who raised this, the disruption and hardship caused to the farming community who are awaiting payments of grants. The difficulty has arisen because of the union's decision to embark on a form of industrial action when there is another course of action open to them. As I said, negotiation is the way to sort out this problem, particularly in view of the fact that 222 upgradings were agreed in 1989. This clearly indicates that the Department have dealt generously with earlier claims by this union.

I regret that this action has led to delays in processing payments to farmers and in other essential work done from those offices. I would like to take this opportunity to assure the House that no effort will be spared by the Department to resolve this dispute at the earliest possible date. However, I would also appeal to the union to resume normal working immediately.

On the question of travelling expenses for field officers, I should point out that it is essential that Civil Service costs, whether salaries, travelling expenses, accommodation or any other administrative item must be kept under strict control. It is in that context that the Government have introduced the concept of administrative budgets. The Department of Agriculture and Food have fixed specific budgets for the travelling expenses of its field staff. We must live within these budgets and field officers and their supervisors must carefully plan their travel programmes to ensure that this is done. In cases where the quarterly travel budget has been exhausted due to high demand for inspections officers have been allowed to anticipate expenditure from the next quarter. I am satisfied that the resources available for travelling expenses are sufficient to meet the requirements of the various schemes. There may be occasional problems in certain offices but in the longer term I am sure that these can be resolved. I am sure that nobody in this House would criticise the objective of maintaining strict controls on our administrative costs.

I hope this problem will be resolved in a rational and adult way to the benefit of everybody concerned.