Debate contribution: North/South Ministerial Council: Agriculture

Debate contribution by Mr Andrew Muir on 11 June 2024.

MLA

Mr Andrew Muir

Party at the time

Alliance Party

Date

11 June 2024

Type

Debate contribution (made as a minister)

Business

Ministerial Statement

Heading

North/South Ministerial Council: Agriculture

Assembly identifier

Official Report component 4495485

Read the official Assembly record

Text

I thank the Member for his question. Rural development was discussed at the NSMC, and I also discussed it with one of the junior Ministers on St Patrick's Day in Brussels. There is a real opportunity to take learnings from what the South has done and use those to help shape rural affairs policy in the North. I will want engage with the Committee and relevant stakeholders as we set out our road map on rural development policy. There is lots to learn. We need to develop a policy. I have heard the Committee's concerns about the need to shape rural development policy in Northern Ireland. I want to engage with the Committee and stakeholders on that. It is critical that we do it in a process of co-design. In Armagh yesterday, we talked about blue-green algae in the environment and the aquaculture and marine sectoral meetings. There is a real desire from the South to work with us on this, taking account of the fact that the catchment area of Lough Neagh incorporates parts of the South. Hopefully, the Executive can agree the Lough Neagh report and action plan, which provides a template for lots more North/South cooperation on this issue, particularly around science and research.

I thank the Member for his important question. Not a day goes past when the issue of TB is not raised with me. The level of infection in our herds is not sustainable for my Department nor for farmers in Northern Ireland, so we need to take action on it. I am meeting the Chief Veterinary Officer this afternoon on possible actions. Hopefully, we will outline those over the summer. At the Committee last week, I said that I am happy to appear before the Committee over the summer to talk through those. There are opportunities for North/South cooperation, because we have mutual challenges. I am looking forward to engaging with the South on what they have done, and how we can work together to address this issue. This is critical for me. I realise the importance of acting, and I will not be found wanting.

I thank the Member for his question. The issue of TB featured in the papers for the North/South Ministerial Council that we are talking about. There is a need to do a lot more work, North/South and east-west, because there are also learnings to take from GB. I get the concerns. The difference between now and January of this year is that there are now Ministers in post. I have been working with officials. I tasked my Chief Veterinary Officer on the first day that he started the job to look at the issue afresh. Over the summer, we will bring forward proposals for action. That will involve taking learnings, North/South and east-west. That will be a key feature, and I am keen to do it.

I thank the Member for his question. Animal health and welfare, as outlined in the statement, was discussed at the meeting. It is a key area of cooperation, North/South, but a lot more can be done. DAFM in the South is looking at a ban on the importing of dogs with cropped ears and a prohibition on shock collars. I am keen to explore similar measures in Northern Ireland, resources and time permitting. There needs to be North/South cooperation on animal welfare. I am meeting the Chief Veterinary Officer this afternoon about not just TB but animal welfare. It is important that, on the road ahead, I am able to outline my vision for how we improve protections against animal cruelty in Northern Ireland. I am very clear that that should be a process of co-design. There are a number of areas where we need to take action. I want to engage with stakeholders to get their views on these issues. I also want to engage with my counterpart in the South to see what they are doing and how we can work together. That engagement will have lots of mutual benefit in planning the road ahead. I am aware of the calls for an all-Ireland register of animal welfare offenders. I hope to pick that up with my counterpart down South. I am prepared to look at the evidence base on that and, most importantly, engage with stakeholders to see how we can look at the issue alongside everything else. I am not ruling anything out. I will engage with stakeholders, the Chief Veterinary Officer and officials to scope out how we can have the best and highest protections against animal cruelty in Northern Ireland.

I thank the Member for her question. There is a lot of merit in that. From the discussions that we had yesterday on climate change, the challenges in the North are similar to those in the South. I am quite keen to explore that because, North/South and east-west, we will be much stronger if we work together on this, particularly in investment in science and research.

I thank the Member for his question, and the answer is yes. We had discussions on that on St Patrick's Day, and, obviously, as part of the discussions that occurred as part of the NSMC meeting. There is lots of stuff happening in the South that we want to take learning from, but we also want to have a rural development policy that reflects the real issues and challenges of today, particularly the place of women in rural communities and childcare, because those are the issues that are facing society today. I want to do that in a process of co-design, but I will engage with my colleagues, North/South and east-west, to see how best we can have a policy that meets the needs of people in rural areas of Northern Ireland.

I thank the Member for her question. Lough Neagh was discussed as part of the meeting, but it was also discussed yesterday as part of our sectoral meetings on the environment, aquaculture and the marine. There is a wide range of opportunities for cooperation, North/South, which will be predicated on the Lough Neagh report and action plan, which, hopefully, will be agreed by the Executive soon. It is imperative that we agree that report and take action. I was updated by officials this morning that, this year, there have been 33 reports of blue-green algae in Northern Ireland at 19 sites, so it is absolutely critical that we take action on that. At the meeting, there was a presentation on water quality and how the North/South issues have been faced. I want to move forward on these issues and take the learning from the South but also explore opportunities for cooperation. Dealing with the issues associated with Lough Neagh is based on four pillars: education; investment and incentivisation; regulation; and enforcement. There are many areas within those pillars where there is real potential for cross-border cooperation. For example, setting up a science platform and taking the North/South learnings on training and engagement with our farmers. Our farmers are part of the solution here, and lots of stuff has been done down South that we want to take learning from. On catchment areas and one-to-one engagement with farmers, we are doing that in the North and in the South, and we need to take the learning and see how we can do that much better and roll it out further in Northern Ireland. On incentivisation, we are doing stuff in the North that we can share with the South, such as better management of slurry as part of the small business research initiative (SBRI) and increasing tree planting. On regulation, there are areas such as the nutrients action programme and the third river basin management plan that we are looking at, North and South. Down South, they have set up a fertiliser database, which is something that we want to consider in the North. On enforcement, there are lessons to be learned, North and South, on how we can do that better. Let us be clear: there are opportunities for action, and there is clear plan ahead through the Lough Neagh report and action plan. I want us to get cracking and be able to give people in Northern Ireland hope that we are turning the situation around, working in partnership in the Assembly and Executive, North/South and east-west.

I thank the Member for his question. That was not discussed specifically at the meeting, but I am aware of the concerns about it. I will meet another stakeholder group about that matter today. Further to the debate that we had in the Assembly a few weeks ago, I am working with officials on the correspondence that I promised to send to the UK Government on that. That correspondence will be focused on proposed solutions, because solutions are what we need to focus on when it comes to EU exit. It is about being pragmatic and constructive in this place and bringing forward ways in which the UK Government and the EU can bring solutions to aid the resolution of that issue. That is what I intend to set out in the weeks ahead.

I thank the Member for his question. I am quite excited about that. It is quite good. I do not think that I would have been so excited about it a number of months ago. It is an opportunity for Northern Ireland to showcase itself. We do ourselves down too much here. We have a problem with slurry here in Northern Ireland, but we have solutions. For that issue, we have the small business research initiative. In phase 1, six local companies developed proposals for that, and we are moving into phase 2. Essentially, rather than looking at something as a problem, the initiative looks at it as an opportunity and a resource. That fits in well with the Lough Neagh report and action plan. We are doing a number of things in Northern Ireland that we need to shout about. As well as that initiative, there is the soil nutrient health scheme and future farm support. There is a positive future ahead for us. I am keen to sell that to people once we launch phase 2 of the initiative, because it allows us to bring solutions to environmental problems and challenges for the farming community.

1,722 words. Text as published by the Northern Ireland Assembly.

Assessment

Not flagged

Jev’s structured answers

Assessed 21 October 2026 at 10:38 UTC by jev-1.13.0 (requested as typesafe/jev) under rubric 2026.10-r9, methodology 1.9.

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