The Department of Agriculture is paying €100,000 per year in rent to Teagasc for office space at the Mellows campus in Athenry, Co Galway.

It has forked out €1m in rent to the authority in the last 10 years.

A Department spokesperson told the Irish Farmers Journal that the office space occupied by the Department in Athenry is around 1,310m2. A total of 32 Department staff are headquartered in Athenry across integrated controls, agri-environment schemes, crop policy, production and safety, horticulture and plant health, along with providing admin support to Galway and Mayo regional veterinary offices.

The information came to light from Minister for Agriculture Martin Heydon in response to a parliamentary question from Social Democrats leader and west Cork farmer Holly Cairns, who asked for a list of all properties his Department has rented from 2015 to date in 2025.

The integrated controls division is involved in farm inspections relating to various pillar one schemes, such as the Basic Income Support for Sustainability (BISS) and certain pillar two schemes including the Areas of Natural Constraint, Suckler Carbon Efficiency Programme and Sheep Improvement Scheme and nationally funded schemes for Co Galway, the Department spokesperson said.

“Checks are also carried out in relation to the identification and registration of cattle, sheep/goats, and pigs in line with national legislation and any other inspections that are deemed necessary as they arise.

“The agri-environment schemes division also carry out controls and shape policy primarily on pillar two schemes, but also on additional CAP/food safety schemes,” they added.

Under crop policy, the Department carries out independent variety trials for a wide range of newly bred crop varieties including cereals, maize, oilseed rape, beans, potatoes, grass and clover.

The only other rent the Department has paid in the 10-year period is €6,000 per annum for a pet checking facility in Rosslare Harbour from 2016 to 2022. This fee increased to €12,000 per year for 2023 and 2024. The Department paid €3,000 in rent for the facility this year, but decanted from the space in March and the lease was ceased.