Debate contribution: Poultry Litter
Debate contribution by Mr Andrew Muir on .
- MLA
- Mr Andrew Muir
- Party at the time
- Alliance Party
- Date
- 25 February 2025
- Type
- Debate contribution (made as a minister)
- Business
- Oral Answers to Questions
- Heading
- Poultry Litter
- Assembly identifier
- Official Report component 4815329
Read the official Assembly record
Text
Poultry litter is a mixture of poultry manure and bedding material that is derived from commercial poultry houses. It is classified as a category 2 animal by-product, and it must be disposed of in compliance with certain conditions in order to mitigate disease risks. It can be moved to Ireland only under certain conditions. The exporter must obtain permission from the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (DAFM) by way of a licence to move the poultry litter to Ireland. Once permission from DAFM — the Department in the South — has been obtained, the exporter must request an authorised private veterinary practitioner to verify and certify the poultry litter to Ireland on the relevant export health certificate. In 2024, Northern Ireland consigned 111,563 tons of poultry litter to Ireland out of a total annual production of chicken manure of approximately 380,000 tons. Due to the current disease outbreak of a highly pathogenic avian influenza in Northern Ireland, a number of restriction zones have been established. Information on the zones can be obtained from the DAERA website. The export of poultry litter from those zones is currently prohibited. There has been no recent change in the arrangements for moving poultry litter to Ireland from outside avian influenza restriction zones.
210 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: 0.02 (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 (1.00).
- 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 | 0.01 | No |
| Cultural grievance politics | 0.01 | No |
| Dog-whistle messaging | 0.02 | No |
| Controversy escalation | 0.02 | No |
| Legitimate policy scrutiny | 0.29 | No |
| Overall judgement | 0.02 | 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 |
|---|---|
| No identity-related subject | 0.99 |
| Constitutional question, Brexit, the Windsor Framework and sovereignty | 0.01 |
| Flags, emblems, symbols, names and memorials | 0.00 |
| Parades, bonfires and commemorations | 0.00 |
| Irish language, Ulster-Scots and language policy | 0.00 |
Assessed 21 October 2026 at 12:02 UTC by jev-1.13.0 (requested as typesafe/jev) under rubric 2026.10-r9, methodology 1.9.
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