Rev Dr Ian Paisley MP, MEP, MLA
Chairperson
Committee for Agriculture and Rural Development
Parliament Buildings
STORMONT 20 June 2002

Dear

Thank you for forwarding the Report of the Review Panel on 'Education and R&D in Agriculture and Food Science,' which the Committee for Employment and Learning considered at our meeting on 13 June 2002.

The Committee considered that the following recommendations were close to, or overlapping with the Department for Employment and Learning's concerns for teaching and research:

• To transfer the School of Agriculture and Food Science to either the Queen's University of Belfast or the University of Ulster;
• The transfer of the teaching function of each of the DARD Colleges to the neighbouring Institute of Further and Higher Education; and
• The inclusion of the Agricultural Research Institute of Northern Ireland within the newly created Northern Ireland Agriculture and Food Research Institute (NIAFRI).

The Committee agreed that all three recommendations should be given favourable consideration and that increased co-operation and co-ordination in these areas would benefit both students and the needs of the industry, especially in the food processing sector. Members were of the view that a more efficient spend of public money could result from placing teaching and research institutions at arms length from the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development.

Yours sincerely