MINUTES OF PROCEEDINGS OF THE
COMMITTEE FOR AGRICULTURE AND RURAL DEVELOPMENT
MONDAY 17 SEPTEMBER 2001
HELD IN ROOM 135 PARLIAMENT BUILDINGS
1. Minutes of Proceedings on 7 September 2001
2. Matters arising from the Minutes of Proceedings on 7 September 2001
3. Committee Inquiry into the Livestock and Meat Commission
4. Any Other Business
5. Date of Next Meeting
Present:Dr IRK Paisley MP MEP (Chairperson)
Mr G Savage (Deputy Chairperson)
Mr B Armstrong
Mr PJ Bradley
Mr J Dallat
Mr B Douglas
Mr G Kane
Mr G McHugh
Mr F Molloy
Mr I Paisley Jnr
Apologies:Mr D Ford
In attendance:Mr P Moore
Mr B Kennedy
Mr J McCourt
Mr E Vance
The Chairperson declared the meeting open to the public at 9.35am.
1. Minutes of Proceedings on 7 September 2001.
1.1 Resolved: that the draft Minutes of Proceedings for 7 September 2001 were approved.
2. Matters arising from the Minutes of Proceedings on 7 September 2001.
2.1 DARD/QUB Link. Members noted a letter and press release from the Department that referred to the launch of the review of DARD's arrangements for undergraduate and post-graduate education, research and development in agriculture and food science.
Mr McHugh and Mr Molloy attended the meeting at 9.42am.
2.2 The Beef Labelling (Enforcement) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2001 - formal consideration. The Committee considered The Beef Labelling (Enforcement) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2001 and discussed the views sought and received from the General Consumer Council for Northern Ireland.
Question put and agreed:
That the Committee for Agriculture and Rural Development has considered The Beef Labelling (Enforcement) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2001 and has no objection to the Rule.
Resolved: that the Committee should write to the General Consumer Council for Northern Ireland to thank them for their views and assistance and write to the Department, informing them of the issues raised by the Council.
2.3 "Organic Farming In Northern Ireland: A Development Strategy". Members noted a letter from the Department that accompanied the above report, an extract from the report setting out it's "10-point plan", a copy of the DARD consultation letter and also a copy of the press release issued by the Minister announcing the consultation exercise.
Resolved: that the Committee should commission research from the Assembly Research Services and arrange a future meeting with the Department to discuss the report.
2.4 Attendance at Conferences. Members were informed of the details and costs regarding the attendance of a researcher on behalf of the Committee at "The Future of the European Meat Industry" conference in Brussels on 27/28 September 2001 and also the attendance of Committee members at the RICS/Law Society seminar at the Waterfront Hall on 26 September 2001.
Resolved: that confirmation of bookings for both conferences should be deferred until 24 September 2001, due to the possibility of the Assembly being suspended.
Mr Bradley attended the meeting at 9.48am. Mr Dallat left the meeting at 9.50am.
3. Committee Inquiry into the Livestock and Meat Commission.
The Chairperson declared the meeting closed to the public at 9.51am.
3.1 Papers to be Published along with the Report
Resolved: that only those Minutes of Proceedings relating to the reading of the Report be published.
Resolved: that all written submissions, including further questions and written answers, be published.
Resolved: that all Minutes of Evidence taken, be published.
Resolved: that agreed memoranda should not be published but that a list of these should be included in the Report and the memoranda lodged in the Assembly Library.
3.2 The draft report was brought up and read for the second time, paragraph by paragraph.
3.3 The title page (including the draft title for the Report), Contents page and preamble were read, amended and agreed.
Mr Armstrong attended the meeting at 9.56am. Mr Dallat returned to the meeting at 9.57am.
3.4 Executive Summary and Recommendations. The Committee agreed to postpone consideration of the Executive Summary and Recommendations.
3.5 Introduction.
Paragraphs 1.1 to 1.3 read and agreed
Paragraphs 2.1 to 2.4 read and agreed
Paragraphs 3.1 and 3.2 read and agreed
3.6 Response to issues by groups giving evidence.
Resolved: that inverted comas be used throughout the Report when speaking in the first person.
Paragraphs 4.1 to 4.7.1 read and agreed
Paragraphs 5.1 to 5.8.20 read and agreed
Paragraphs 6.1 to 6.4.12 read and agreed
Paragraph 6.5.1 read
Resolved: that paragraph 6.5.1 should be placed in the Promotional Activities section.
Paragraphs 6.5.2 to 6.8.24 read and agreed
Paragraphs 7.1 to 7.3.6 read and agreed
Paragraph 7.3.7 read
Resolved: that paragraph 7.3.7 should be placed in The Provision of Classification Services section.
Paragraph 7.3.8 and 7.8.14 read and agreed
Paragraphs 8.1 to 8.8.8 read and agreed
Mr Douglas attended the meeting at 10.12am. Mr Savage left the meeting at 10.13am.
3.7 Findings.
Paragraphs 9.1 to 9.4 read and agreed
Paragraphs 10.1 and 10.2 read, amended and agreed
Paragraphs 10.3 to 10.6 read and agreed
Paragraph 10.7 read, amended and agreed
Paragraphs 11.1 to 11.4 read and agreed
Resolved: that the need for an Agricultural Forum should be included in the Report. New text was drafted and agreed for insertion as an additional paragraph to follow 11.4.
Paragraph 11.5 read and agreed
Paragraph 11.6 read, amended and agreed
Mr Bradley left the meeting at 10.33am.
Paragraphs 11.7 and 11.8 read and agreed
Mr Dallat left the meeting at 10.35am.
Paragraphs 12.1 to 12.7 read and agreed
Paragraphs 13.1 to 13.7 read and agreed
Mr Savage returned to the meeting at 10.45am.
Paragraphs 14.1 to 14.3 read and agreed
Paragraphs 14.4 and 14.5 read, amended and agreed
Paragraph 14.6 read and agreed
Paragraphs 15.1 to 15.4 read and agreed
Paragraph 15.5 read, amended and agreed
Paragraphs15.6 to 15.9 read and agreed
The Chairperson and Mr Paisley Jnr left the meeting at 10.54am. The Deputy Chairperson assumed the Chair at this time.
Paragraph 16.1 read and agreed
Resolved: that reference to the Farm Quality Assurance Scheme should be included. New text was drafted and agreed for insertion as an additional paragraph to follow paragraph 16.1.
Paragraphs 16.2 to 16.4 read and agreed
Paragraphs 17.1 to 17.9 read and agreed
Paragraph 17.10 read, amended and agreed
Mr Dallat returned to the meeting at 11.28am.
Paragraphs 18.1 to 18.10 read and agreed
Paragraphs 19.1 to 19.17 read and agreed
Paragraph 19.18 read, amended and agreed
Resolved: that the Committee should meet at 9.00am on Friday 21 September 2001 to continue and finalise consideration of the Report.
Mr Dallat and Mr Molloy left the meeting at 11.46am.
4. Any Other Business.
The Deputy Chairperson declared the meeting open to the public again at 11.47am.
4.1 Food and Farming Debate. Members noted a letter from Friends of the Earth inviting them to a debate on Food and Farming on Monday 24 September 2001 in the Waterfront Hall, Belfast.
Resolved: that any Member wishing to attend the debate, would do so on his own behalf.
4.2 Subsidy Fraud. Members noted a letter from the Minister to the Chairperson that referred to the leak inquiry that the Department undertook in relation to claims that the Department was ignoring subsidy fraud.
4.3 Future Committee Business. Members agreed that due to the postponement of the meeting scheduled for Friday 14 September 2001, a number of items of business scheduled for 21 September 2001 would be deferred until the meeting scheduled for 28 September 2001.
5. Date of Next Meeting.
5.1 Resolved: that the next meeting will take place on Friday 21 September 2001 in Room 135, Parliament Buildings, at 9.00am.
The Deputy Chairperson brought the meeting to a close at 11.51am.
Ian R K Paisley
Chairperson