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Northern Ireland
Assembly

Paul Carlisle
Clerk to the Committee for
Agriculture and Rural Development
Parliament Buildings
Stormont
Belfast
BT4 3XX

Joe Cassells
Departmental Assembly Liaison Officer
Department of Agriculture and
Rural Development
Room 509
Dundonald House
Belfast
BT4 3SB

19 February 2009

Dear Joe

COMMITTEE MEETING – 17 FEBRUARY 2009

I refer to the above.

The Committee has stated their grave concerns at the images of Northern Ireland farmers queuing to submit applications to the Farm Modernisation Programme and the subsequent indication from the European Commission that the scheme may have breached their regulations. An invitation has been issued for the Minister and/or Permanent Secretary to attend the meeting of 24 February 2009 by separate letter. You may wish to note that the Chairperson to the Committee has written to Commissioner Fischer-Boal, on behalf of the Committee, asking that, in the event the programme is found to have commenced outside of the EU regulations, the Commissioner allow a derogation to permit the first tranche of funding to be progressed to farmers and that the subsequent tranches are then delivered in accordance with the appropriate regulations. The Committee believes that this will recognise the efforts made by the industry in ensuring that application forms were submitted within the defined procedures identified to them and will allow for the commencement of much-needed investment in the rural economy of Northern Ireland. In the meantime, the Committee would require an urgent update in respect of this matter.

The Committee also believes that the Farm Modernisation Programme is very evidently over-subscribed and calls on the Department to rectify this by diverting, for example, a large part of the £20 million budget allocated against farm diversification, contained in Axis 3 of the Northern Ireland Rural Development Programme, to the Farm Modernisation Programme. The Committee is aware that the Department will have the opportunity to seek approval for this, or other reallocations, from the European Commission in June 2009.

A number of queries on the matter are attached and I would appreciate if these could be responded to in advance of the meeting scheduled for 24 February 2009.

The Committee received a presentation from officials in respect of labelling of red meat products and again expresses its concern at the absence of a coordinated programme in respect of labelling of Northern Ireland red meat produce. The Committee was also disappointed to learn that departmental restaurants do not participate in the voluntary labelling scheme and calls on the Department to rectify this immediately and to ensure that other Executive and public service outlets actively participate in the voluntary scheme.

The Committee noted the Departments response in respect of the Rural Development (Financial Assistance) (Public Expenditure) Regulations (Northern Ireland). The Committee has asked that the Department present on the contents of the proposed Letters of Offer before their issue as the withdrawal of the regulations does not now afford the Committee the opportunity to fulfil its role in respect of the scrutiny and policy development that would normally be associated with subordinate legislation.

The Committee agreed that the following matters progress to the legislative stage:

The Committee agreed that the following item proceed to consultation and that the Department return to Committee with a detailed analysis of consultation responses:

The Committee agreed that departmental officials would be required in respect of the following matters:

The Committee agreed that departmental officials would not be required in respect of the following matter:

A number of queries are detailed in the attached query templates. I would appreciate a response by noon, 26 February 2009.

I am happy to discuss

Yours sincerely

Paul Carlisle
Clerk to the Committee for
Agriculture and Rural Development