The House will now hear a two minute statement from Deputy Cotter on a matter appropriate to the Minister for Agriculture and Food.
Agriculture Matter.
I want to raise with the Minister the poor working conditions of the agricultural officers attached to the Ballybay office in County Monaghan. The problem is serious. The agricultural officers attached to the Ballybay office have been working in a corridor which has been a fire escape for years. I understand that negotiations with the Department have been going on since 1987. The union and the agricultural officers are anxious to have proper working conditions. Indeed, the officers recently refused to work in these conditions and are working from their homes. The service they are offering is not as efficient as it could be because of the unavailability of files and so on.
The most unbelievable part of the problem is that the Department have been flouting fire regulations for years. This is hardly a respectable practice from a Government Department. It is illegal and it is dangerous. The Minister's failure to provide proper office space for these officers has been putting lives at risk for years. There are about 20 or 25 people working in the office and in the event of a fire breaking out it might be impossible for everyone to get an easy exit from the premises, thus lives would be at risk. Will the Minister immediately give a commitment to sort out this problem at once?
I realise that the premises in Ballybay are not ideal but I understand that there is no other suitable accommodation in the town. The Department have arranged as a temporary measure to allow some of the agricultural officers based in the Ballybay office to work from their homes. As the duties of these staff are primarily on-farm inspections, this arrangement is feasible. Indeed it operates in several other counties.
My Department are in contact with the Office of Public Works with a view to carrying out improvements to the premises.
The Dáil adjourned at 5.30 p.m. until 10.30 a.m. on Wednesday, 5 June 1991.