Administrative functions from the Department of Agriculture‘s Tullamore office are being transferred to Cavan, but its vets, inspectors and technical officers will remain in place. This is according to the department as it moves to reassure farmers in the Midlands that its Tullamore office remains open.
Frontline services will be fully maintained and public access for all of the department’s stakeholders will continue to be available in the Tullamore office, it stressed.
According to the department, the transfer of the administrative functions out of the Tullamore office arises from an extensive review of the local office structure, which was carried out over the past number of years.
It said this review concluded that, arising from investment in technology and the substantial reduction in disease levels in recent years, significant efficiencies would accrue from the centralisation of administrative functions in two centres, thereby giving rise to significant scope for redeployment of administrative staff from existing local offices.
The process of centralising the administrative functions commenced in 2012 and is ongoing.
Administrative staff have already been transferred from the local agri offices in Limerick, Tipperary, Enniscorthy, Waterford among others.
The department stressed it will continue to maintain a public office in Tullamore and in all of the locations where the administrative functions are being transferred. The centralisation of administrative support should not impact negatively local access and services for local customers, it added.
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