Debate contribution: North/South Ministerial Council: Agriculture

Debate contribution by Mr Andrew Muir on 9 September 2025.

MLA

Mr Andrew Muir

Party at the time

Alliance Party

Date

9 September 2025

Type

Debate contribution (made as a minister)

Business

Ministerial Statement

Heading

North/South Ministerial Council: Agriculture

Assembly identifier

Official Report component 5086329

Read the official Assembly record

Text

I thank the Member for her question. It is an important issue, because it affects farmers in Northern Ireland, particularly their mental health. It is a key priority for my Department. We outlined a blueprint for the way forward, and I commend everyone who took part in the stakeholder group, which allowed us to set out that blueprint. Its implementation is key. It is based on three pillars: people, cattle and wildlife. Let me be crystal clear today that a wildlife intervention strategy is not optional. Rather, it must occur. We must have wildlife intervention on TB. My officials are pulling together a strategy so that we can proceed with it. We need to make sure when we go out to consult on it that it is done correctly. In the time ahead, we will be able to commence the consultation and get people's views on wildlife intervention in order to allow us to tackle TB in Northern Ireland. Alongside that, we are taking measures on people and cattle, and there are further measures that we want to explore with stakeholders so that we can drive down instances of TB, because the levels are not sustainable for farming in Northern Ireland or for my Department.

The sustainable agriculture programme is a fundamental intervention from my Department that is worth around £300 million. I managed to secure that funding for this year and future years, and we are the only part of the UK in which that funding is ring-fenced. It was lost in other parts of the UK, and I am determined to ensure that it delivers benefits for farming in Northern Ireland. A key part of the funding was for the delivery of the farm sustainability transition payment (FSTP) last week. We are now focused on the next delivery phase of the sustainable agriculture programme, which will be the farm sustainability payment (FSP). That will be rolled out from 1 January 2026. It is absolutely critical that we do that, because entitlements have been traded on the basis of its coming into place. We will be engaging with the Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs Committee in the time ahead on the roll-out. If Members have concerns, I ask them to contact me or officials. I am happy to discuss their concerns with them. It is key that we get the farm sustainability payment and the associated farm sustainability standards in place. Once we are able to get that payment in place, the focus will turn to diverting the resources that have been put in place to get funding out the door to deliver Farming with Nature and also sheep support. It is absolutely critical that we assist farmers with nature-friendly farming. That is something that I heard very clearly at Fields Good, the regenerative agriculture festival, at the weekend. It is something that farmers want to see scaled up and rolled out. My ambition is that Farming with Nature will be rolled out and that the cliff edge with the environmental farming scheme (EFS) be addressed, because doing that is key. Alongside that, we must deliver a sheep support scheme. If we get the farm sustainability payment and the farm sustainability standards agreed, we can deliver sheep support for people in Northern Ireland. Let us work together, collectively; let us deliver this flagship policy of support; and let us deliver a prosperous and bright future for farming in Northern Ireland.

Thank you, Diana. I am happy to consider any invites, but matching them with my diary can be a challenge. It has been outlined that there will be further announcements from DAFM, this week, regarding an all-island approach around TB. There has been engagement with DAFM, at official level and Minister to Minister, on a Shared Island initiative for tackling TB on an all-Ireland basis. There is real opportunity around that. I am keen to get that across the line as soon as we can, because it will be a practical measure that will help farmers, North and South. I will continue to engage with Minister Heydon on that, because it is critical that we drive down the prevalence of TB. I have given a commitment that, as long as I have the budget, we will continue the 100% compensation, but that is not good enough. We also need to drive down the incidence so that we can deal with the impact that it has on family farms in Northern Ireland.

That is an important issue, because, post Brexit, the loss of the rural development programme is something that has not, perhaps, been given as much of a profile. It was significant funding that supported rural communities across Northern Ireland, and we lost it as a result of Brexit. It is one of the many consequences of Brexit that have been felt across Northern Ireland. We are working together, particularly in relation to PEACE PLUS initiatives, to support rural communities. We are also co-designing a future rural policy for Northern Ireland. Hopefully, we will go out to consult on that soon so that we can get views taken. We are also engaging, through the Department of Finance, on future funding arrangements. We have had follow-on funding from EU funding, such as the Levelling Up Fund, for instance. I have made a clear case to the Finance Minister that rural development should be a key feature of any future funding arrangements to replace the funds that we had during membership of the European Union, and we will continue to engage on that. It is important that we deliver that support to rural communities, and we will continue to roll out well-established schemes, such as the tackling rural poverty and social isolation framework (TRPSI). It is important that we deliver that to rural communities.

I agree with the Member entirely — this is a positive question time — because it is a key issue for the farming community in Northern Ireland. The levels are not sustainable, and the continued rise causes me a great concern, due to the impact on family farming in Northern Ireland, agriculture more broadly and the Department. I thank the Finance Minister for the financial support that he has given me, which has allowed us to keep the compensation, but we have to drive down the incidence. Ultimately, the only way that we are going to do that is by doing it together. I had a constructive meeting with the Ulster Farmers' Union on the issue — hearing feedback on what we are doing. We are happy to engage — we will engage through the stakeholder group — about any other measures that we can use to drive this down, and we are preparing to consult on a wildlife intervention strategy. I have been clear, and I reiterate it today: wildlife intervention is not optional; it must occur. However, when we are doing the consultation and formulating it, we need to do it correctly, because it is important that we deliver an intervention that is legally robust.

That is no problem. The PEACE PLUS funding is something that I have been very grateful for, and it is something that, together, we can deliver on the ground to people. DAERA is partnering with DRCDG and SEUPB, the Special EU Programmes Body — apologies for all the acronyms — to provide funding of €80 million to two PEACE PLUS investment areas that focus on rural issues. That partnership means that we can achieve much more by contributing to resilient, vibrant and prosperous rural communities in which people want to live, work, visit and invest. Investment area 2.4, entitled, "Smart Towns and Villages", has a budget of €30 million and aims to help citizens and communities to access and utilise information and communication technology. Investment area 4.2, entitled "Rural Regeneration and Social Inclusion", has a budget of €50 million and aims to support social, economic and environmental projects to create healthy rural communities. Letters of offer have been issued to successful projects under call 1 of investment area 2.4 and investment area 4.2. The steering committee of call 2 on investment area 2.4 will meet in October of this year, after which successful projects will be notified.

I thank the Member for his question. That is a key issue for us. I outlined in the environment sector statement the concerns that exist about the situation in Cork with the Asian hornet. I made a statement just before recess about the threats to us in Northern Ireland from that, and I want to take a moment to talk about them. We had foot-and-mouth disease on the European continent. I have not heard many reports about that of late but that does cause me concern. We had bluetongue, so I have made the vaccine available if people want to use it. Vigilance is paramount because the risk of that arriving in Northern Ireland remains, which is of concern. We are moving into autumn and winter, and we know the impact that avian influenza had last season. It is really important that there is an emphasis on biosecurity because avian influenza can have a significant impact on farming. There have been good working relations but the impact would be significant. Another issue, which was covered on 'Farming Today' on BBC Radio 4 yesterday, is biosecurity with regard to the movement of illegal meat products from the European continent into GB, and the potential for them to arrive in Northern Ireland. Alistair Carmichael, Chair of the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Committee, outlined the Committee's concerns about the movement of such products into Dover. I will continue to engage with the UK Government on their need to strengthen biosecurity in GB because the potential for those products to arrive in Northern Ireland is a real concern. Once we have UK and EU agreement in place, there will, obviously, be reduced checks between GB and NI. That is welcome and, I think, something that we all want, but there is concern around biosecurity, and we need to reiterate its importance. Alongside that, we need to work North/South because we are a single epidemiological area, and the Chief Veterinary Officers, North and South, continue to work on those issues.

The key focus is on working together, North and South. We do a lot through the North/South Ministerial Council but officials also do that on a regular basis. The key concern for me is, as I have outlined, movements of products into GB and the inadequacy of the border target operating model (BTOM). That concern has been raised not just by me but by the Scottish and the Welsh. That needs to change, and we have been engaging collectively with DEFRA on that because we need to make sure that those products do not come into Northern Ireland. We have a fantastic agri-food system. We should be very proud of the high standards of animal welfare here and the quality of the food that we produce, and we should not allow them to be undermined by illegal imports.

There has been significant engagement on that, particularly on avian influenza. We ensure that we move together on that and have collective messaging. We have also been engaging on bluetongue. We decided to make the vaccine available in the North. Ministers in the South decided not to, but we did that through a process of communication, respecting the different decisions on that.

As we move forward, there is a need for continuing engagement, particularly on equine welfare. We are very aware of that through our obligations in animal health law, North and South.

There is a commitment in the climate change legislation to set up a just transition fund for agriculture. I made a bid, alongside the Finance Minister, to the UK Government for funding for that as part of the Budget that the Chancellor of the Exchequer announced in October last year. That bid was not successful, so I engaged with the Finance Minister locally and managed to secure over £12 million for a just transition fund for agriculture. It is very important that we understand that just transition is about not just our climate obligations but the environment more broadly. I have engaged and will continue to engage with the Finance Minister because I want to see that just transition fund for agriculture increased. It will be new and additional capital funding to support farmers and agriculture more broadly in Northern Ireland. What does that mean? It means my seeking funding for a sustainable farm investment scheme so that we can assist farmers in taking up technologies that will allow us to reduce our nutrient loss into waterways and reduce ammonia emissions. That assistance can include grant funding for low-emission slurry spreading equipment (LESSE) technology. I need the funding for that so that I can assist farmers on the road ahead, and I will continue to engage with the Finance Minister on it. However, it goes beyond that. There are many other technology interventions that we can make to improve the environment for Northern Ireland and assist with on-farm productivity. Therefore, I need a significant increase to the just transition fund for agriculture. If we are going to talk about a just transition, I need the funding to assist farmers.

I will deal with those questions in two parts. There is the consideration of a pilot on TB that DEFRA is progressing. We are watching that closely as it progresses. I as Minister and we as a Department have to take lessons from the previous judicial review on wildlife intervention. It would be negligent if we did not. It is important that, when we proceed to a consultation, it is done correctly. The worst thing for me, as Minister, would be to lead people down a garden path to a situation where we are not able to deliver a resolution to the issue. I am not about that; I am about being honest with people about the challenges that we face and doing things correctly. We will go out to consult on a wildlife intervention. I encourage everyone to feed into that, and we will take decisions on the back of the consultation. It is important that we do that. Alongside that, there are many other measures that we can take on the three pillars of people, cattle and wildlife. I commend the stakeholder group, which involves the farming industry and environmental groups working together to deliver those interventions. I will continue to support the Chief Veterinary Officer as the chair of that group.

2,427 words. Text as published by the Northern Ireland Assembly.

Assessment

Not flagged

Jev’s structured answers

Assessed 21 October 2026 at 13:02 UTC by jev-1.13.0 (requested as typesafe/jev) under rubric 2026.10-r9, methodology 1.9.

Disagree with this assessment?

Classifications can be challenged. A person reads every challenge, and any change is recorded publicly above with its reason.

Challenge this classification