Farmers, politicians and farming organisations have been ramping up the pressure on the Department of Agriculture over the planned scaling back of operations of the Roscommon district veterinary office (DVO).

As part of cost saving measures, Minister for Agriculture Simon Coveney announced the reduction of clerical and administration staff in Roscommon from 14 to two. The remaining 12 staff will be reassigned to the Department of Social Protection in Roscommon.

The majority of the services carried out at Roscommon will be transferred to central offices in Portlaoise and Cavan.

In the past couple of weeks, a delegation made up of Roscommon/South Leitrim TD Frank Feighan, Maura Quigley from Roscommon mart, exporter Hubert Maxwell, John O’Beirne from the IFA and Charles Clarke from the ICSA, put forward the case to Minister Coveney on the importance of the retention of services at the DVO.

John O’Beirne said the party had forwarded to Minister Coveney the need to retain at least four staff in the office, as well as calling on other farmers to support the cause.

“Roscommon has one of the highest number of suckler cows in the country and we have the Maxwells exporter business here as well, so there is a serious need to have a well resourced DVO in Roscommon,” O’Beirne said.

“We urged Minister Coveney to retain at least four clerical staff as we feel that would be an appropriate figure. While he gave no assurances, he said he will review the situation at the end of the first quarter in 2014.

We need all farmers in the region to get behind the campaign, it’s no use just talking about it, we need to take action,” O’Beirne added.

Separately, Independent TD Denis Naughten has written to Minister Coveney to say that ‘there is a huge body of knowledge which has been built up by the staff in the Roscommon office that will be lost’.