Councillors hit out at agriculture office closure

MINISTER Tony Killeen has rejected claims he turned his back on Clare in his failure to prevent the closure of the Department of Agriculture Office in Ennis on April 16 next.
Deputy Killeen has come under fire from councillors who claimed he should have flexed his political muscle to retain the Ennis District Veterinary Office, including the Agricultural Environment and Structures Office and Forest Service Office, for over 5,000 landowners in Clare.
Speaking at a Clare County Council meeting on Monday, Councillor James Breen claimed Deputy Killeen had turned his back on the county by failing to halt the closure of the Ennis office, which the Department of Agriculture owns, while it is renting offices in Limerick at a cost of €33,000 a month.
“Clare is losing services all the time, post offices, accident and emergency and now the Department of Agriculture office. I am disappointed with the farming organisations, who have been very quiet on this issue,” he said.
Commenting on speculation that Deputy Killeen is set for promotion to a senior ministry, Councillor Pat Burke claimed his record on this issue leaves a lot to be desired.
He said it is hard to accept that Clare would be the only county in Munster without an office, while other offices were being retained throughout the country.
Councillor Sonny Scanlan alleged Deputy Killeen was not flexing his political muscle in relation to the retention of the Ennis office, while Councillor Tommy Brennan said it made no sense for the Department of Agriculture to close an office it owned in Ennis and keep the one it is leasing in Limerick open.
Councillor Michael Hillery, who urged Agriculture Minister, Brendan Smith to reverse this decision, warned that half of the four Teagasc offices in Kilrush, Ennis, Ennistymon and Scariff were facing the prospect of closure in 12 to 18 months.
Stating that the offices provided an invaluable service to Clare farmers, he called on Teagasc officials to outline their plans to provide an Educational and Advisory Programme to Clare farmers over the next five years at the next council meeting.
Deputy Killeen explained the reduction of Department of Agriculture offices from 57 to 16 is a national initiative to save over €30 million.
If this rationalisation doesn’t take place, Deputy Killeen warned that equivalent cuts would have to be made in payments for farming schemes, such as REPS.
Once the review was completed, Deputy Killeen recalled he pursued the option of retaining the Ennis office instead of Limerick, however the proposal was ruled out because it could cost millions to break the long-term lease attached to the Limerick office.
“There was never a question of keeping the Ennis and Limerick offices open. According to the McCarthy Report, the Department of Agriculture is over-staffed and farming organisations have been highlighting duplication in existing resources for years, while other departments are currently under-staffed.
“There is a proposal that a certain level of service would be provided on mart days, which is being examined,” he said.
Deputy Pat Breen recently tabled a Dáil question asking Finance Minister Brian Lenihan the cost of renting the agricultural offices in Limerick for the past five years.
He was told that the department had spent  €1,556,703.67 since the start of the lease on May 1, 2005, while service charges totalling €147,319.24 have also been paid in respect of the premises.