asked the Minister for Agriculture if he will arrange to have an office opened in Mallow, County Cork, to service the North Cork brucellosis and tuberculosis eradication schemes as it would be of considerable assistance to farmers in that area.

I am satisfied that Cork city is the most suitable location to serve the needs of the farmers in the county and I do not propose to open an office in Mallow.

The purpose in setting up county offices is to centralise as far as possible all the Department's services in a single office in each county. This provides for greater co-ordination of local services and staff and enables farmers to conduct all their business with the Department in one location rather than having to travel to different offices for different schemes.

Considering the distance from Mallow and the surrounding areas to Cork city, would not the Minister consider it more advisable and in the best interests of farmers to open an office in the Mallow region?

As I said in my reply, I consider it a better policy to have all services concentrated in one office. If we were to consider a more diffuse system in Cork as it is such a big county, I could imagine locations which are much further removed from Cork than Mallow which might be considered as an alternative centre.