Farmers are entitled to get value for money from the public service

IF, as Finance Minister Charlie McCreevy has insisted, there is not enough in the kitty to restore good times for farmers, they are at least entitled to get value for money in their dealings with the Department of Agriculture.

Nothing less than that will be enough to appease farmers if, as expected, their leaders signed up to the new national partnership yesterday (after we went to press).

There could be a backlash for farm leaders supporting partnership.