TEAGASC LEFT: Professor Gerry Boyle, Director, Teagasc RIGHT: Tony Pettit, Head of Education Programme, Teagasc
Boyle, Director of Teagasc. “There would have been a strong expectation that we would have been involved in the delivery of the GLAS programme, as we were in the delivery of the REPS scheme, but we can’t recruit staff to deliver that programme so we are looking at lining up with a strategic partner to deliver that service in the first instance to about 15,000 of our own clients. That’s a new departure and probably a sensible way to go, under the circumstances.” The embargo is also having a significant impact on Teagasc’s ability to retain staff, as the organisation is unable to promote its employees. Six key researchers have left the organisation, including former Head of Food Science Paul Ross and fertiliser guru Stan Lalor. This is due to some being offered more lucrative jobs elsewhere, and Teagasc cannot offer promotions to encourage employees to stay. The embargo on promoting staff is causing big problems for State organisations like Teagasc who are dependent on highly skilled staff: “In an organisation like ours, you need very technical staff. When we lose a specialist staff member we are unable to fill that position with other employees as they may not have the specialist qualification needed. “This arises especially in research, but it can also happen in our advisory service because of different geographical situations. For example, I spoke to a group of farmers in Donegal last week; they represented four discussion groups, very dynamic dairy farmers from the Finn Valley area. Their advisor is due to retire in a couple of months and they are very worried about what is going to happen to their discussion groups. Unfortunately, a lot of the areas where we are having a problem are also areas where we expect significant growth in milk production,” says Prof Boyle.
Another area where the embargo is causing difficulty for Teagasc is the delivery of its education programmes. Education staff numbers are down by 25 per cent since 2009, and Teagasc are unable to replace staff who are on leave either. In the same period, student intake has doubled. A measure that offers young farmers a 25 per cent top-up on the EU singlefarm payment if they have agricultural qualifications has resulted in significant interest in further education, says Prof Boyle. Applications for the Teagasc distance education Green Cert and the regional part-time Green Cert have increased threefold to 1,500 applicants. The incentives for farmers under the age of 40 was introduced as part of the 2015 to 2020 CAP reform proposals allowing a young farmers’ scheme to be introduced in the EU member states in 2015.
Having a Green Cert is also one of the conditions of stamp duty exemption on the transfer of a farm to a son or daughter. According to the Head of the Education Programme in Teagasc, Tony Pettit, “farmers eligible for the scheme will get a payment of e60 per 50 hectares of land for a five-year period. “We have three times the normal applications for what we call distance education Green Certs; that probably has put a big boost for demand, but even if you took that away demand for full-time courses in the college is as high as ever. What we are really having is increased demand on an already high level of demand.” When asked about whether the 2015 budget will make any improvements to the education service delivered by Teagasc, Pettit says it is too early to tell. “We have to look at the details of the budget and what it will mean for Teagasc in terms of the allocation of grants and aids. We have got sanction to recruit up to 20 additional temporary education staff to deal with the big increase in green cert demand. We are hoping, like every other organisation as we move into next year and the year after, there will be some flexibility in the recruitment of staff.” Director Gerry Boyle believes that after six years with an embargo in place it is time to start looking at a smarter way of dealing with the staff problem. “We were encouraged by what the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform Brendan
“Six key researchers have left the organisation including former Head of Food Science Paul Ross and fertiliser guru Stan Lalor.” The Green Cert refers to a list of agriculture courses or agricultural science courses that qualify a person as a ‘trained farmer.’ With Teagasc, one must obtain a FETAC Level 6 Advanced Certificate or a FETAC Level 6 Specific Purpose Certificate in Farm Administration to achieve a Green Cert. There are many ways to obtain one of these qualifications with Teagasc, including full-time education in a Teagasc college or part-time in one of the 12 Teagasc regional education centres. It takes a minimum of two years to complete the training and the content gives graduates the skills to run a farm business.
Howlin said in the budget. There was a reference to lifting the embargo and perhaps replacing it with a staff embargo by an expenditure cap, which would make more sense as it would seem to suggest that agencies like ourselves would have choice in relation to how we manage our staffing situation within an expenditure constraint. “That would mean that we would have choice if we save money because people leave the organisation through retirement; we can use those resources to either hire people in areas where we identify need, or perhaps use to promote staff. It gives you flexibility.” ●
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