Debate contribution: Agri-food Sector
Debate contribution by Mr Andrew Muir on .
- MLA
- Mr Andrew Muir
- Party at the time
- Alliance Party
- Date
- 19 February 2024
- Type
- Debate contribution (made as a minister)
- Business
- Oral Answers to Questions
- Heading
- Agri-food Sector
- Assembly identifier
- Official Report component 4223311
Read the official Assembly record
Text
I congratulate the Member on his appointment as Chair of the Committee, and I look forward to working with him. The farm support and development programme is something on which I have been engaging with officials over the past two weeks, and I will be engaging with them again tomorrow. My officials have been working on the new farm support and development programme. The schemes and measures that are being introduced will provide levers to contribute to statutory obligations under the Climate Change Act 2022, with a firm focus on just transition. In June 2023, my Department launched a timeline for the roll-out of its proposed farm support and development programme. That timeline provided the industry with an overview of when proposed schemes and measures will be introduced on a phased basis, subject to legislative and business case cover. On 1 January 2024, the beef carbon reduction scheme was introduced. It is aimed at improving the efficiency of the beef sector and reducing livestock greenhouse gas emissions, thereby contributing to meeting the Climate Change Act targets.
That scheme is the most significant new element from the overall farm support programme to be added in 2024-25. Work is ongoing on the development of the proposed farm sustainability payment, farming with nature package and a number of other enabling measures and action schemes. I will take some time to consider the overall content and progress of the proposed programme and how it addresses the priorities in the sector. I had a constructive meeting, last week, with the Ulster Farmers' Union at which we discussed this. The meeting was productive and useful, and there was a meeting of minds on many areas. I say to those who have a perception about me that I intend, over the next three years, to prove them wrong.
301 words. Text as published by the Northern Ireland Assembly.
Assessment
Jev’s structured answers met the documented threshold for “not flagged”.
- Overall probability that the activity is being used to promote, exploit or escalate an identity-based controversy: 0.03 (flagging needs at least 0.70; at or below 0.30 is not flagged).
- None of the five culture-war criteria was met (each was below 0.60).
- No identity-based framing was identified (0.97).
- The overall probability was at or below the not-flagging threshold.
This is an AI-generated assessment of the text, made against published criteria. It is not a finding of fact about the MLA or their intentions. The Assembly record itself is the fact.
Jev’s structured answers
| Question | Probability | Met? |
|---|---|---|
| Identity framing | 0.02 | No |
| Sectarian or communal antagonism | 0.02 | No |
| Cultural grievance politics | 0.01 | No |
| Dog-whistle messaging | 0.04 | No |
| Controversy escalation | 0.05 | No |
| Legitimate policy scrutiny | 0.53 | No |
| Overall judgement | 0.03 | At or below not-flagging threshold |
| Option | Probability |
|---|---|
| No identity-based framing (chosen) | 0.97 |
| Reports or questions it | 0.03 |
| Criticises or condemns it | 0.00 |
| Adopts it | 0.00 |
| Subject | Probability |
|---|---|
| No identity-related subject | 0.93 |
| Sectarianism, hate crime and community relations | 0.03 |
| Sexism, misogyny, ageism and other equality groups | 0.02 |
| Another identity-related subject | 0.01 |
| Flags, emblems, symbols, names and memorials | 0.00 |
Assessed 21 October 2026 at 09:37 UTC by jev-1.13.0 (requested as typesafe/jev) under rubric 2026.10-r9, methodology 1.9.
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