Debate contribution: On-farm Investment

Debate contribution by Mr Eóin Tennyson on 17 June 2024.

MLA

Mr Eóin Tennyson

Party at the time

Alliance Party

Date

17 June 2024

Type

Debate contribution

Business

Private Members' Business

Heading

On-farm Investment

Assembly identifier

Official Report component 4496320

Read the official Assembly record

Text

I welcome the debate insofar as it raises an important issue and challenge for the agriculture sector, but the motion falls short from a number of perspectives. First, and perhaps most obviously, as referenced by Patsy McGlone, it is critical of a decision that was taken by officials in 2023 in the absence of a Minister, without any acknowledgement of or contrition for the fact that the absence of an accountable Minister or scrutiny body was due to the proposer of the motion's party boycotting the Assembly during that time. The motion also fails to attribute adequate weight to the scientific and legal evidence before us that the departure from the previous standing advice was necessary. Fundamentally, it fails to engage seriously with the worrying trends in ammonia levels, with Northern Ireland now being responsible for a disproportionate share of the UK's ammonia emissions. I am conscious of and recognise the frustrations that exist amongst the agriculture sector and the implications that the interim advice had for planning applications. I am equally clear, however, that we cannot simply wish away the huge challenges posed by ammonia emissions, which have a significant impact on our environment, on our biodiversity and, crucially, on water quality and human health. The current position is that the Northern Ireland Environment Agency will provide planning authorities with case- and site-specific advice on a case-by-case basis. There is no doubt that a new ammonia strategy and revised operational protocol are required to give our agriculture sector the clarity and certainty that it desires and deserves. We need a science- and evidence- based protocol and strategy that are, importantly, compliant with environmental law and supportive of environmentally and financially sustainable farming. Of course, as others have said, that strategy could and should have been forthcoming much sooner, were it not for the endless merry-go-round of stop-start government in this place. Nonetheless, I welcome the progress that has been made and look forward to Minister Muir publishing the draft strategy later this year. Of course, Alliance wants to see investment in a just transition for our farmers. In order to achieve that, fair funding arrangements for Northern Ireland are crucial. I welcome the ongoing work by the AERA Minister and the Finance Minister to seek to revise the future earmarked agriculture funding.

I thank the Member for his intervention. I am sure that the Minister will respond to it in due course. The motion talks about the need for investment, and it is true that there is such a need, but it fails to recognise that not all investment is equal. As my colleague John Blair pointed out, the vast majority of outstanding planning applications in the system fail to include significant mitigation measures. We cannot, given our environmental obligations, ignore that fact. We must ensure that investment is consistent with environmental law. For those reasons and so many others, while we recognise the challenges and are absolutely committed to the publication of a fair strategy that will deliver for our agriculture sector, we cannot support the motion in its current form.

513 words. Text as published by the Northern Ireland Assembly.

Assessment

Not flagged

Jev’s structured answers

Assessed 21 October 2026 at 10:43 UTC by jev-1.13.0 (requested as typesafe/jev) under rubric 2026.10-r9, methodology 1.9.

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