This article is from page 59 of the 2009-09-15 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 59 JPG
THE decision, by the Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, to close the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food office in Ennis has been met with strong opposition.
According to the Chairperson of Clare ICMSA and Chairman of that organisation’s National Beef & Cat- tle Committee, Martin McMahon, a valuable resource and service for Clare farmers has been lost and measures must be taken immediate- ly to minimise the impact on Clare JET U NN ae
“As things stand, the reality is that
most Clare farmers who need to visit the local department office will now have to travel a much longer distance to the far side of Limerick city and deal with the time and traffic prob- lems that involves. The local Clare office provided many vital services to farmers and it is imperative that reasonable alternative arrangements are put in place so that Clare farmers can still access department services in their own county and at a con- venient location,’ stated the Clare ICMSA Chairman and well known O’Callaghan’s Mills farmer.
“In this regard, we believe that the department should make _ person-
nel available at various locations throughout the county on specific days so that farmers can have their issues dealt with locally rather than travelling to Limerick city.
“This service could be made avail- able at the local social welfare of- fices. There are five social welfare offices servicing County Clare, namely Ennis, Ennistymon, Kilrush, Tulla and Gort, and Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food per- sonnel located in these offices would be in a position to provide a service that would be convenient to all Clare farmers,’ he said.
Clare ICMSA have met both Minis-
ter of State Tony Killeen and Deputy Timmy Dooley and briefed them on this solution to what Mr McMahon says is fast becoming a source of much anger amongst the local farm- ing population.
“We have suggested a means where- by local farmers can access services at locations throughout Clare in a manner that facilitates everyone in- volved. The alternative is people hav- ing to take half a day, or indeed a full day off, to head off to the far side of Limerick to access the same services that could be provided in Clare at no extra cost. We want a bit of imagina- tion to be used here,’ he said.