NI Agriculture Minister

Lord Chief Justice Morgan: “this is a case about political failure”

Pete Baker on December 28, 2013, 4:02 pm | Readers 176

Not the Haass talks. You can keep your nose pressed against the windowpane with David if you’re hoping for a scrap of comfort from that. No, this is about the continued dysfunctional approach of the two main parties of the Northern Ireland Executive semi-detached polit-bureau to the process of government – as defined under the current administration. Sinn Féin’s pre-Christmas (23 Dec) defence of the Northern Ireland Agriculture Minister Michelle O’Neill’s unilateral decision to re-allocate €137 million of EU funding over the next six …

Lough Neagh Working Group: “This report may never see the light of day.”

Pete Baker on November 20, 2013, 5:11 pm | Readers 172

As the Belfast Telegraph reports, having set up a inter-departmental Working Group by September last year, “to explore and pursue actively the potential for a cross-departmental approach to bring Lough Neagh back into public ownership”, the Northern Ireland Minister for Agriculture and Rural Development, Sinn Fein’s Michelle O’Neill has lost the group’s report down the back of the sofa told the DUP MLA Paul Frew that the report “is [still] going through due process”. [It’s not for sale! – Ed] “but if the assembly …

Theresa Villiers: “I’m extremely pleased that we were able to answer the Agriculture Minister Michelle O’Neill’s request for a military helicopter…”

Pete Baker on March 26, 2013, 9:11 pm | Readers 206

Following a request yesterday from the Northern Ireland Agriculture Minister, Sinn Féin’s Michelle O’Neill, to the Secretary of State, Theresa Villiers, for “urgent access to helicopter support“, an RAF Chinook flew from its Hampshire base today to airlift supplies in order “to get food on the ground for stranded animals“. [It’s just “a transport helicopter“! – Ed] And the NI Agriculture Minister explained to UTV that the request was made “for helicopter support from the MOD” because it was “becoming very …

Irish Agriculture Minister: “I am seriously concerned about this development…”

Pete Baker on February 22, 2013, 8:14 pm | Readers 17

I haven’t been posting on every twist and turn [Not “an isolated instance“, then? – Ed] of the still unravelling story of the Europe-wide horse meat for beef scandal. But this looks like it could be a significant development. From the RTÉ report A processing plant in Co Tipperary has been shut down after inspectors found it was exporting horse meat under a label in the Czech language which translated as beef. B&F Meats, a small-scale deboning factory in Carrick-on-Suir was selling a …

Bovine TB and badgers: “This approach has not been tried anywhere else…”

Pete Baker on July 15, 2012, 3:26 pm | Readers 65

The different approaches of the various administrations in the UK and Ireland to attempting to eradicate bovine tuberculosis [TB] in wild animals, specifically badgers, are worth noting. They are all in response to the EU Directive 64/432/EEC which, as the Welsh adminstration’s website notes, “requires Member States to provide plans showing how they will eradicate bovine TB in cattle.” In England, the UK government is pressing ahead with badger culling, despite the opposition of animal welfare groups like the RSPCA. In Wales, the Welsh …

“The Committee views this matter with the utmost seriousness…”

Pete Baker on December 7, 2011, 2:57 pm | Readers 82

The BBC reports the Northern Ireland Assembly Public Accounts Committee’s (PAC) press release on their report in response to NI Audit Office report into the Farm Nutrient Management Scheme – the actual PAC report is here. In general there’s little new information on the NI Department of Agriculture’s mishandling of the Farm Nutrient Management Scheme – the largest capital grant scheme ever run by the Department of Agriculture, through which some 4000 farmers received grants worth £121million – an earlier draft PAC report was leaked to the …

“the scheme was poorly planned, badly managed and did not provide good value for money”

Pete Baker on September 16, 2011, 2:50 pm | Readers 33

We’ve already seen the Northern Ireland Audit Office report criticising the NI Department of Agriculture’s handling of the Farm Nutrient Management Scheme – the largest capital grant scheme ever run by the Department of Agriculture, through which some 4000 farmers received grants worth £121million. Now the BBC have reported that a draft report from the NI Assembly’s Public Accounts Committee, due to be published in 3 weeks time, will be equally damning. From the BBC report It is expected to conclude that …

NI Agriculture Minister: “I know that I am not alone in that concern among member states.”

Pete Baker on September 27, 2010, 3:54 pm | Readers 10

The Northern Ireland Department of Agriculture may have sought £100 million to cover the eventual total disallowance by the EU Commission for the maladministration of EU funds but, as RTÉ reports, the Minister, Sinn Féin’s Michelle Gildernew, has told the Assembly that “the Department is taking the necessary steps today to take a case to the European Court of Justice” challenging that disallowance. From the Minister’s press release The Minister delivered her statement to set out her Department’s position in regard to …

NI Agriculture Minister: “It is unfortunate that the EU decided to take a hard line…”

Pete Baker on September 10, 2010, 5:58 pm | Readers 14

In a statement yesterday the Northern Ireland Agriculture Minister, Sinn Féin’s Michelle Gildernew said Announcing the LPIS Improvement project, the Minister said: “It is unfortunate that the EU decided to take a hard line and impose a £31m disallowance for the 2004-6 scheme years at such a difficult economic time both for the Executive and the wider economy as a whole. That said, the EU decision has been made and we have to move to mitigate future disallowance.” The Minister neglected …

“there was good news and bad news…”

Pete Baker on August 4, 2010, 2:33 pm | Readers 5

The still-Northern Ireland Finance Minister, the DUP’s Sammy Wilson, won’t be making a formal statement to the Assembly until September, but he’s written to MLAs to inform them of the NI Executive’s decisions about this year’s additional cuts in departmental budgets. From the Belfast Telegraph report In a letter penned to MLAs he said: “The main issue facing the Executive in this round was how best to address the £127.8m reduction in funding arising as a consequence of the announcement made by …