COMMITTEE FOR AGRICULTURE AND RURAL DEVELOPMENT
MINUTES OF PROCEEDINGS
TUESDAY 12 MAY 2009
ROOM 152, PARLIAMENT BUILDINGS
Present:
Dr William McCrea (Chairperson)
Tom Elliott (Deputy Chairperson)
P J Bradley
Thomas Burns
Trevor Clarke
Willie Clarke
Pat Doherty
William Irwin
Francie Molloy
Edwin Poots
George Savage
In attendance:
Paul Carlisle (Clerk to the Committee)
Emma Patton (Assistant Assembly Clerk)
Frank Geddis (Clerical Supervisor)
Kathy Gunduza (Clerical Officer)
Apologies:
None
The meeting opened at 1.30pm in Public Session.
1. Apologies
As above.
2. Minutes
The Committee agreed the Minutes of the meeting of 5 May 2009.
3. Matters arising
(a) Correspondence issued
The Committee noted the correspondence issued since the meeting of 5 May 2009.
(b) Correspondence received
The Committee noted the correspondence received since the meeting of 5 May 2009.
4. Presentation – DARD- River Basin Plan - Water Quality Initiatives
Peter Scott and Brian Ervine, departmental officials joined the meeting at 1.33pm and presented to Committee on the department’s Water Quality Initiatives. Following the presentation, Members put questions.
Tom Elliott joined the meeting at 1.33pm.
William Irwin joined the meeting at 1.36pm.
Francie Molloy joined the meeting at 1.37pm.
Edwin Poots left the meeting at 1.55pm.
Thomas Burns joined the meeting at 1.55pm.
PJ Bradley joined the meeting at 1.56pm.
Pat Doherty joined the meeting at 1.56pm.
The officials left the meeting at 1.59pm.
5. Presentation – DARD – SL1s – The Control of Salmonella in Broiler Flocks Scheme Order ( Northern Ireland) 2009 and The Zoonoses and Animal By-Products (Fees) (Amendment) Regulations ( Northern Ireland) 2009
Ian McKee and Barbara Cooper, departmental officials, joined the meeting at 2.00pm and presented to Committee with revised fees in respect of the above mentioned subordinate legislations. Following the presentation, Members put questions. It was agreed to proceed to the next legislative stage, subject to the application of the revised fees.
The officials left the meeting at 2.16pm.
6. Presentation – Ulster Farmers’ Union – Key Issues
Clarke Black, Graham Furey, John Thompson, Harry Sinclair and Wesley Aston, representatives from the Ulster Farmer’s Union, joined the meeting at 2.16pm and made a presentation on the key issues currently facing Northern Ireland’s agricultural industry.
Willie Clarke left the meeting at 2.37pm.
PJ Bradley joined the meeting at 2.49pm.
Thomas Burns left the meeting at 3.05pm.
The representatives left the meeting at 3.07pm .
7. Dioxins Incident Inquiry
It was agreed that the Committee would seek legal advice before proceeding with the above mentioned inquiry.
8. Future Presentation
The Committee Clerk briefed Members on the future business of the Committee. It was agreed to proceed as proposed.
9. AOB
Members were reminded a number of Committee visits scheduled over the next month.
The Committee agreed that there would be no meeting on Tuesday 2 June 2009.
10. Date of the next meeting
The next Committee meeting will be held on Tuesday 19 May 2009 at 1.30pm in Room 152, Parliament Buildings.
The meeting was adjourned at 3.12pm.