Minutes of Proceedings

The Deputy Chairman declared the meeting open in private session at 9.39am.He offered his thanks to Bertie Kennedy and wished him well in his new post.

1. Minutes of Proceedings on Friday 26April 2002.

1.1. Resolved: that the draft Minutes of Proceedings for 26 April 2002 were approved.

2. Matters Arising from the Meeting on 26 April 2002.

2.1. Correspondence: Members noted receipt of correspondence by e mail from the meeting on 26 April 20002.

Mr Douglas attended the meeting at 9.50am. Mr Bradley left the meeting at 9.50am.

2.2. Potato Sector: Members agreed to a provisional date for the proposed visit to Wilson's Country Ltd. and agreed to formalise attendance at their next meeting on 3 May 2002.

Mr Paisley Jnr left the meeting at 9.54am. Mr Bradley returned to the meeting at 9.55am

2.3. Future Meetings With The Minister: Mr. Dallat raised the issue of the Committee's meetings having to take place on a Friday and whether this could be changed to allow members to carry out constituency work on this day.

2.4. Resolved: That the Committee Clerk should check availability of rooms and provide advice on 10 May. The Committee would consider dates of future meetings with the Minister in the light of this information.

Mr Paisley Jnr returned to the meeting at 9.57am.

2.5. Foot and Mouth Disease Inquiry: The Committee deliberated on the placing of a public notice regarding it's inquiry.

2.6. Resolved: Further Public Notices should be placed in Farm Week, Irish Farmers Journal and the farming supplement of The News Letter. In addition, the Committee should approach the Livestock and Meat Commission to seek its inclusion in their 'Bulletin' publication.

Mr Bradley left the meeting at 10.01am and returned to the meeting at 10.04am.

The Deputy Chairman declared the meeting open to the public at 10.05am, welcoming students of Greenmount Agricultural College to the public gallery.

3. Meeting with the Minister.

3.1. The Deputy Chairman welcomed the Minister and her officials Mr. Ronnie Jordan, Mr. Liam McKibben, Dr. George Mc Ilroy, Mrs. Collette McMaster, Mr. Noel Cormick and Mr. Michael McLernon.

3.2. The Minister made a statement in relation to Premia Payments and was joined by Mr Jordan in answering questions from the Committee.

Mr Jordan left the meeting at 10.25am

3.3. The Minister made a statement in relation to the Department's response to the Committee's LMC Inquiry Report and was joined by Mr McKibben in answering questions from the Committee.

Mr McKibben left the meeting at 10.39am

3.4. The Minister made a statement in relation to the Committee's Animal Diseases Inquiry and was joined by Dr George McIlroy in answering questions from the Committee.

3.5. The Minister made a statement in relation to the Northern Ireland Scrapie Plan and was joined by Collette McMaster and in answering questions from the Committee.

Dr. McIlroy left the meeting at 11.27am.

3.6. The minister made a statement in relation to Rural Proofing and was joined by Mrs McMaster in answering some questions. The Minister was unable to take all questions on this subject due to time constraints and she left a paper which was distributed to Committee members.

3.7. Mr. Bradley raised the issue of the closure of the prawn factory in Kilkeel and was informed by the Minister that it was not her area of responsibility but that she understood local representatives were in contact with the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Investment whose area of responsibility it was.

Minister and officials left at 11.35am. Meeting adjourned.

Meeting resumed at 11.45am.The Deputy Chairman, Messrs Armstrong, Dallat, Douglas, Kane, McHugh, and Paisley Jnr were all present.

4. Infrastructure Executive Programme Funds Project. Dard bid for funding.

4.1. The Deputy Chairman welcomed officials Mr. Jim Ditchfield and Mr. Derek McDowell. Mr. Ditchfield then made a statement explaining the background to the project, to create a food innovation and learning centre at Loughry College.

Mr Bradley returned to the meeting at 11.49am.

4.2. Committee members then put questions to the officials on subjects including: the benefits and costs of the project; the strategic nature of the proposed asset; the project's beneficiaries and objectives; assessment of the Economic Appraisal; the relevance of the report from the Review Panel on Education and R&D in Agriculture and Food Science; and links with the industry and students from within and outside Northern Ireland.

Mr Bradley left the meeting at 11.56am. Mr Paisley Jnr left the meeting at 12.06pm.

The Deputy Chairman thanked the officials for their presentation and they left the meeting at 12.20pm.

4.3. Members then deliberated on whether or not to support the project. Concerns over costs were raised by Mr McHugh and Mr Dallat raised concerns over the recent review on possible duplication of work carried out in the universities. However, members were generally supportive of the project.

Mr. Bradley returned to the meeting at 12.27pm

Resolved: Members agreed in principle to support the project as a significant enhancement of a strategic asset. Members also agreed that the Deputy Chairman should issue a letter to the Minister highlighting both their support and their concerns.

Any Other Business:

Mr Bradley raised the issue of the closure of the prawn factory in Kilkeel with the loss of approx. 150 jobs.

Resolved: Members agreed the broad contents of a press release to be issued immediately and that the Deputy Chair should write to the Minister asking her to keep close contact with her Executive colleagues.

The Deputy Chairman declared the meeting to be in private session at 12.36pm.

5. Rural Development Programme Inquiry Draft Report.

5.1. The Committee continued its consideration of the draft report into preparation for the next phase of the Rural Development Programme (2001-2006).

Executive Summary.
Paragraphs 1-4 were read and agreed
Paragraphs 5-6 were read and agreed
Paragraphs 7-13 were read and agreed
Paragraphs 14-20 were read and agreed
Mr Paisley Jnr returned to the meeting at 12.49pm.
Paragraphs 21-26 were read and agreed
Paragraph 27 was read, amended and agreed
Paragraphs 28-32 were read and agreed
Paragraph 33 was read, amended and agreed
Paragraphs 34-37 were read and agreed
Paragraphs 38-49 were read and agreed

Recommendations.

Mr Armstrong left the meeting at 12.55pm.

Paragraphs 1-32 were read and agreed.

Resolved: That the Report be the Report of the Committee and that the Committee orders it to be printed.

Resolved: That the Rural Development Council request to add footnotes to the minutes of evidence of 25 May 2001 was agreed and that the footnotes should be inserted.

Resolved: That the minutes of evidence taken from witnesses on 30 March 2001, 25 May 2001 and 8 February 2002 should be printed with the report.

Resolved: That lists of published and unpublished memoranda are approved and memoranda are to be included in the report according to these lists.

Resolved: That extracts from the Committee's Meetings of Proceedings relating to the report should be reported.

5.2. Members agreed the draft motion for debate.

Resolved: That the Business Office will be advised that a 2-3 hour debate is anticipated

5.3. Members agreed a press notice for release, under embargo.

Resolved: That Committee staff should finalise the printing of the report.

Mr Armstrong returned to the meeting at 1.09pm.

6. Legislation.

6.1. SR 161/2002 - Medicated Feedingstuffs (Amendment) Regulations (NI) 2002.
Members formally considered the Medicated Feedingstuffs (Amendment) Regulations (NI) 2002.

Question put and agreed:

That the Committee has considered the Medicated Feedingstuffs (Amendment) Regulations (NI) 2002 and, subject to the Examiner of Statutory Rules' Report, has no objection to the rule.

6.2. SR 162/2002 - Feedingstuffs (Zootechnical Products) (Amendment) Regulations (NI) 2002.

Members formally considered the Feedingstuffs (Zootechnical Products) (Amendment) Regulations) (NI) 2002.

Question put and agreed:

That the Committee has considered the Feedingstuffs (Zootechnical Products) (Amendment) Regulations (NI) 2002 and, subject to the Examiner of Statutory Rules' Report, has no objection to the rule.

6.3. Diseases of Animals (Modification) Order (NI) 2002

6.4. Resolved: Members agreed to await the results of consultation before commenting on this rule and that the compensation for pedigree animals should be queried with the Department.

6.5. Fur Farming(Prohibition) Bill. Members agreed to defer discussion until their meeting on 10 May 2002.

7. Any Other Business.

7.1. Forestry: Correspondence from the Ulster Angling Federation regarding proposed helicopter spreading of fertiliser

7.2. Resolved: That the Committee would send a letter to the Minister to ask for a report.

7.3. DARD response to Finance & Personnel Committee Inquiry. Members noted DARD'S response.

7.4. Assets transferred to DARD following the Wind - Up of Irish Sport Horse Genetic Testing Unit Ltd. Members noted the consultation progress report from DARD and agreed to retain the copy of ITEC's response to that consultation for future reference.

7.5. Supplementary Estimates 2002/3 Seminar - Members noted and agreed to let Committee staff know if they were going to attend.

7.6. Friends of the Earth. - Members considered a request from FOE to present the findings of their report "Localising the Local Food Economy in Northern Ireland".

Resolved: That due to other commitments the Committee would not be able to meet with FOE but that the Committee would be extremely interested in obtaining a copy of the report.

7.7. Review of Education and R&D in Agriculture and Food Science.

Resolved: To be put on agenda for future Committee discussion and meeting to be arranged with the Review Group.

7.8. UFU Presidency - Mr. Bradley proposed that the Committee should offer it's good wishes to Mr Douglas Rowe, the outgoing President of the Ulster Farmers Union and welcome his replacement.

Resolved: That the Committee would write a letter to this effect.

8. Date of Next Meeting.

8.1. Resolved: that the next meeting will take place on Friday 10 May 2002 in Room 135, Parliament Buildings, at 10.00am.

The Deputy Chairman brought the meeting to a close at 1.26pm.

Ian R K Paisley
Chairman