Moving Galway's agriculture office to Athenry would save thousands in rent and benefit farmers

By SIOBHÃÂN HOLLIMAN FRESH efforts will be made over the coming weeks to relocate the Department of Agriculture office in Galway city centre to the Liam Mellows campus in Athenry. The campaign is being headed-up by Deputy Paul Connaughton, who believes it will save the Department money and will hugely benefit the 13,000 Co Galway farmers.[private] Gridlocked street 'The farming community in Co Galway was disappointed and angry when the last move was made from Hynes Buildings in Augustine Street to just down the road in Dockgate some years ago, when very high rent was paid for an office that is gridlocked by traffic jams at peak hours every day of the week. 'At that time, there was considerable support for a relocation to the Liam Mellows College/Teagasc campus site at Athenry, where many more farm-related services, such as the farm advisory section and research facilities are currently headquartered.' The Galway East TD realises that savings have to be made in every Department and he is anxious that the Department of Agriculture looks at reducing costs in-house before considering cutting farmers' payments or cutting back on related schemes. The Fine Gael TD is very concerned that a decision could be made in the near future to relocate the Galway Department offices again, but to another part of the city. 'The Dockgate office houses a considerable volume of business in relation to animal disease programmes and many other related matters on behalf of over 13,000 County Galway farmers, stretching from Clifden to Ballymoe and Woodford to Ballinasloe,' he said. Deputy Connaughton says if the offices are to be relocated then it makes good financial and practical sense to move them to Athenry, which would be far more accessible to rural farmers. Deputy Connaughton said that the Department of Agriculture and all government departments must look outside the box when it comes to getting value for money and, in this case, the Department of Agriculture must give greater consideration to the best interests of Co Galway farmers. New roads help 'The move to Athenry would make good sense on several fronts. First of all, because of the new road structure, Athenry is now a very easy location to commute to. Secondly, there is ample free car-parking facilities at the Athenry campus. Thirdly, farmers requiring direct personal contact with the DVO office could also engage with other services in a meaningful one-stop-shop way and finally, the accommodation costs of such a move to Athenry would be significantly lower than the astronomical rents of up to €900,000 currently paid for the Dockgate premises.' Deputy Connaughton said he is arranging a meeting with the Minister for Agriculture Simon Coveney over the next few weeks to highlight the issues involved. The Minister recently informed him that in a recent review of the cost of accommodation and the options for alternative premises, the OPW has availed of a break option in the current lease for the Galway premises. Why pay rent when you own buildings? The Minister accepted that it is not sustainable to be paying rent when space is available in other state-owned buildings in the area. 'Accordingly, my Department is working with the OPW to make new arrangements to locate staff of the Galway Regional Office, with both short- and long-term requirements informing any decisions taken,' said the Minister. Deputy Connaughton told The Herald that while consideration will have to be given to the staff working in the office, he is confident the move is viable and achievable. 'I have met with farmers and the IFA, who are understandably lobbying to ensure that current payments are made. The move to Athenry has been raised before and in these tough times, it doesn't make sense to pay high rents in the city centre when there is more suitable and cheaper accommodation available in Athenry,' added Deputy Connaughton.[/private]