Debate contribution: Farmers' Basic Payment Scheme
Debate contribution by Miss Nicola Brogan on .
- MLA
- Miss Nicola Brogan
- Party at the time
- Sinn Féin
- Date
- 7 October 2024
- Type
- Debate contribution
- Business
- Private Members' Business
- Heading
- Farmers' Basic Payment Scheme
- Assembly identifier
- Official Report component 4579746
Read the official Assembly record
Text
I speak as a member of the AERA Committee. I welcome Robbie Butler as the new Chair of the Committee and wish him well in his role. I thank our farmers for the work that they do in producing food and stewarding our environment. Farmers play an essential role in producing high-quality, nutritious food and contribute significantly to food security. Agriculture is not just an economic driver; it delivers crucial social, economic and environmental benefits. Farmers and the agriculture sector are the backbone of our rural economy, supporting jobs and sustaining communities. DAERA must take all necessary steps to retain the basic payment scheme beyond 2024. The upcoming UK spending review is critical, especially for our farmers, who need certainty to plan. The pressures on the agricultural community are immense. Rising feed, fertiliser and energy costs are crippling incomes. Inflation is hurting every sector, but farmers are particularly vulnerable. Meanwhile, as Robbie has alluded to, mental health issues among farmers are rising, as highlighted by Rural Support's recent report. Brexit has only deepened those challenges. Leaving the EU's common agricultural policy has been disastrous for the North financially and structurally. The EU provided multi-annual funding through the CAP, giving farmers long-term security. Now, with Brexit, we have a shrinking agriculture budget, a loss of environmental funding and post-Brexit trade deals that have left our farmers exposed to cheap imports that undermine their ability to compete. The looming end of the basic payment scheme adds further uncertainty, and we have seen no clear replacement. In my constituency of West Tyrone, the total amount of single farm payment is almost £47 million annually. Sinn Féin has called for impact assessments of the loss of those payments because, without them, 25,000 farm businesses are at risk. Food security should be treated as a political priority. Our farmers produce safe, nutritious and affordable food, while maintaining high animal welfare and environmental standards. Agriculture is a key pillar of the economy, especially in the North, and a shrinking budget threatens the sustainability of rural communities. We must also address the broader challenges impacting farming: climate change, access to labour and global instability, such as the war in Ukraine. The British Government's austerity agenda has done little to alleviate those pressures, and the Government's failure to prioritise agriculture will only deepen the crisis. A strong, secure agriculture budget is essential not just for our farmers but for the future of food security. Thriving rural communities depend on it, and so does the economy. We need a Government committed to supporting our farmers beyond 2024, with policies that genuinely reflect the importance of local food production and the sustainability of rural life.
445 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: 0.04 (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).
- Assessed as legitimate policy scrutiny (0.95).
- No identity-based framing was identified (1.00).
- Subject area: Constitutional question, Brexit, the Windsor Framework and sovereignty.
- 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 | 0.03 | No |
| Sectarian or communal antagonism | 0.02 | No |
| Cultural grievance politics | 0.01 | No |
| Dog-whistle messaging | 0.02 | No |
| Controversy escalation | 0.02 | No |
| Legitimate policy scrutiny | 0.95 | Yes |
| Overall judgement | 0.04 | At or below not-flagging threshold |
| Option | Probability |
|---|---|
| No identity-based framing (chosen) | 1.00 |
| Reports or questions it | 0.00 |
| Criticises or condemns it | 0.00 |
| Adopts it | 0.00 |
| Subject | Probability |
|---|---|
| Constitutional question, Brexit, the Windsor Framework and sovereignty | 0.48 |
| No identity-related subject | 0.32 |
| Disability (including neurodivergence and mental health), disabled people and disability or sickness benefits | 0.19 |
| Another identity-related subject | 0.01 |
| Flags, emblems, symbols, names and memorials | 0.00 |
Assessed 21 October 2026 at 11:23 UTC by jev-1.13.0 (requested as typesafe/jev) under rubric 2026.10-r9, methodology 1.9.
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