Reforms could free up 10% of Agriculture staff

Public Accounts Committee: Almost 10 per cent of the staffing complement of the Department of Agriculture could be freed up as a result of agricultural reforms, the Dáil Public Accounts Committee was told yesterday.

The secretary general of the Department, Mr Tom Moran, said it currently had 4,535 staff. He said around 400 could become available in 2005-2006 as a result of changes in payments to farmers.

However, he denied suggestions made by the chairman of the committee, Mr Michael Noonan, that the Department had staff surplus to requirement.

Mr Noonan said the introduction of the single premium payment for farmers would mean enormous changes for the Department and see the elimination of "all checking and rechecking" in relation to issues such as headage payments.

Many of the civil servants in the Department would be underemployed.

"The grapevine says that many people would have difficulty punching in their day", he said.

Mr Moran said he would have concerns if that was the case.