Committee for Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs
The Committee pictured shortly before the start of a meeting in room 21, Parliament Buildings.
From left to right: Tom Buchanan MLA, Willian Irwin MLA, Michelle McIlveen MLA, Robbie Butler MLA (Chairperson), Dr Janice Thompson, Committee Clerk Declan McAleer MLA (Deputy Chairperson), Aoife Finnegan MLA, John Blair, MLA
Áine Murphy MLA & Daniel McCrossan MLA joined the meeting via Zoom.
Latest News
The next meeting of the Committee for Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs will take place on Thursday 11th December 2025 at 10:00am in Room 21.
The Committee will have briefings on the following:
- Dilapidation Bill - Oral Evidence Session - Development Trusts NI
- SL1 The Sustainable Farming Investment Scheme Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2026
- SL1 Shellfish Gathering (Conservation) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2025
- SR 2025/191 The Farm Sustainability Standards (Amendment) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2025
Details of upcoming meetings and agendas can be found on the Business Diary.
Interested in the future work of the Committee? View our Forward Work Programme.
Committee Membership
The current Committee membership is:
- Mr Robbie Butler, UUP (Chairperson)
- Mr Declan McAleer MLA, Sinn Féin (Deputy Chairperson)
- Mr John Blair MLA, Alliance
- Mr Tom Buchanan MLA, DUP
- Ms Aoife Finnegan MLA, Sinn Féin
- Mr William Irwin MLA, DUP
- Mr Daniel McCrossan MLA, SDLP
- Miss Michelle McIlveen MLA, DUP
- Miss Áine Murphy MLA, Sinn Féin
Quick Links
- Watch Again
- Forward Work Programme
- Minutes of Proceedings
- Minutes of Evidence
- Legislation
- Reports
- Research Papers
- Press Releases
- Committee Engagement
- Guidance for witnesses appearing before a Committee and on submitting written evidence
- Committee Privacy Notice
- Work of the Committee in previous mandate
Dilapidation Bill - Have your say!
The Dilapidation Bill was formally introduced by the Minister of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs on Tuesday 23 June 2025.
The purpose of the Bill is to confer functions on district councils in connection with the dilapidation of buildings and other land.
The Bill completed its Second Stage on Tuesday 1 July 2025 and is now referred to the Committee for Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs for scrutiny.
As part of the Assembly’s legislative processes, the Committee will now consider and take evidence on the Bill and report its opinion to the Assembly.
To help gather your views the Committee has now launched a survey. To have your say, please complete the survey and tell us what you think about the Bill.
The closing date for responses was Friday 10 October 2025.
Further information
Nutrient Action Programme Event - 13th November 2025
The Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs Committee held an informal event on 13 November 2025 at the Stormont Hotel to allow Committee members to hear from both the environmental and farming sectors1 on the Department’s Nutrient Action Programme (NAP) 2026-2029.
The Programme’s objective ‘is to improve water quality by reducing and preventing pollution caused or induced by nutrients from agricultural sources’.
The event was specifically designed to inform Committee members and to try to ensure that differing opinions could be discussed by stakeholders between themselves.
There were two discussion sessions. The first session gave time for each table to consider the three main challenges the Programme as drafted presents to each of the two sectors. The second session considered the three key opportunities presented by the Programme. To reflect the informal nature of the session, the event was not recorded and minutes were not taken: facilitating discussion between stakeholders and Committee members to allow them to hear as wide a range of views as possible was prioritised
Contact the Committee
Committee Clerk: Mr James Gilsenan
Room 285, Parliament Buildings,
Ballymiscaw,Stormont,
Belfast, BT4 3XX
Tel: (028) 90 521309
Email: Committee.AgriEnvRural@niassembly.gov.uk
