Communications between the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine and other stakeholders in the Irish agriculture industry continue uninterrupted in spite of the impact of Covid-19, the department has said.

It was confirmed to AgriLand that communication channels are very much open between the department and stakeholders such as farm organisations, though not in person.

Channels including by email, telephone calls and video calls are being utilised, a spokesperson for the department said, adding that, where possible, conference calls are made; but in the absence of this, regular phone calls continue.

It was highlighted that Department of Agriculture officials will be working and phones will be answered for queries from the public.

“If people do have queries on LPIS (Land Parcel Identification System) or different applications, the Basic Payment Scheme applications and so on, the phones are being answered by people,” the department spokesperson added.

Coronavirus cases continue to climb

Yesterday, Thursday, March 19, the Department of Health said that 191 new cases of Covid-19 had been confirmed, bringing the total number of cases to 577. It was announced the same day that a third person in the Republic of Ireland died from the virus.

Taoiseach Leo Varadkar has also confirmed that some 15,000 virus infections are expected by the end of the month, as testing for the infection is being rolled out across the country.