Minutes of Proceedings

The Chairman called the meeting to order at 10.00 and declared the meeting open to the public.

1. Programme for Government

1.1 The Chairman welcomed two DARD officials, Mr McNeill and Mr Ditchfield. Mr McNeill made a short statement referring to the paper which Mr Ditchfield had submitted to the Committee.

Messrs Armstrong and Douglas attended the meeting at 10.15.

1.2 Members raised a number of issues with the DARD officials.

1.3 The DARD definition of Rural Proofing. Mr McNeill undertook to provide a definition of rural proofing, and an explanation of the mechanism for it, once the concept had been accepted in the Programme for Government. He anticipated that this would be in January or February 2001;

1.4 The Vision Group's recommendations and how these might be accommodated in light of the unavailability of funds in the draft budget;

1.5 Matching funds for EU Programmes, both government funds and local communities' contributions. Mr McNeill advised the Committee that DARD had assurances about the availability of matching funds once the European Commission had approved the three main schemes (Objective 1 Transitional, Peace and LEADER + programmes). DARD had also sought additional funds for a cross border rural regeneration programme under INTERREG. In relation to communities' match funding contributions, Mr McNeill advised that DARD's new Rural Development Strategy would demonstrate how DARD would ensure that communities have the capacity to access funding;

1.6 Joint strategies for animal health, outlined at Section 3.3 of the draft Programme for Government, and whether this would have any bearing on the attempt to secure BSE low incidence status for Northern Ireland. Mr McNeill thought not, hoping that the BSE status will have been attained before the joint strategies have been developed;

1.7 The Scrapie eradication programme. In response to a question about whether or not imports of live sheep would be stopped as part of the eradication plans Mr McNeill undertook to provide the Committee with a written answer.

1.8 The appearance in the draft Programme for Government of items, such as farm waste/nutrient management, for which funding had not yet been secured in the budget. Mr McNeill advised that there would be additional items within the final Programme for Government if budget deliberations resulted in additional funding being secured.

1.9 The apparent discrepancy between the references in the draft Programme for Government (at Sections 5.1.3 and 5.4) to modernise and restructure the agricultural industry, and the lack of specific actions to address farm structure and size. Mr McNeill, assuming the question referred to proposals for an Early Retirement scheme, re-iterated that the Minister was unconvinced of the value for money of such proposals.

1.10 The absence of provision for farm capital investment. Mr McNeill reminded the Committee that DARD had bid for such schemes as farm waste and nutrient management schemes.

1.11 Training of young people wishing to enter the industry.

1.12 The 'polluter pays' principle referred to in Section 5.5.1.

Mr Ford left the meeting at 10.45. Mr McHugh left the meeting at 11.10.

1.13 The Chairman thanked the DARD officials for their attendance and they left the meeting at 11.20.

1.14 Resolved: that following the debate on the Programme for Government, on Monday 13 November, the Committee would write to the Minister highlighting a number of issues to her and recommending that she bring these issues to the attention of the Executive.

2. Any Other Business

2.1 Members discussed the proposed visit to Northern Ireland of the Chancellor of the Exchequer.

2.1.1 Resolved: that the Committee should seek a meeting with him during his visit in order to highlight the difficulties caused to the farming community by the spiralling costs of fuel.

2.2 Mr Armstrong brought the Committee's attention to two meetings to be held in the Long Gallery, Parliament Buildings, on 30 November. These related to food promotion and biogas. Mr McNeill undertook to provide the Committee with details of the food promotion meeting if it involved the Department.

3. Date of Next Meeting

3.1 Resolved: that the next meeting would take place on Friday 10 November at 10.00 in Room 135, Parliament Buildings.

The Chairman brought the meeting to a close at 11.35.