Vets deal leaves €4.2m hole in €30.8m plan

Proposals to reduce veterinary costs in meat factories (see page 1) were part of a Department of Agriculture/Croke Park Agreement plan to save taxpayers €30.8m, mainly by reducing the Department staff by 15.9% (cutting 616 jobs) from 2009 to 2015.

By the end of 2011, numbers had fallen by 356.

As part of the plan, technicians have been trained as far back as 2007 to replace temporary veterinary inspectors — and the Croke Park implementation plan for 2011 indicated that use of technicians would be implemented in that year on a pilot scale, saving up to €2m, with estimated annual savings on full implementation by 2014, of €5m.