Is there an unregulated trade in horsemeat in Northern Ireland?

Now, here’s a thing. Mary Creagh has set some ferocious cats amongst the local pigeons [You do mean harses don’t ya? – Ed]. She alone of politicians with any local interest, has been listening to the concerns of the USPCA: “The Ulster Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals have clear evidence of an illegal trade of unfit horses from Ireland to the UK for meat, with horses being re-passported to meet demands for horse meat in mainland Europe. “It says that …

Read more…

Ulster Wildlife Trust: “we are now totally cynical as to whether government ever intended to meet its obligations”

The BBC NI environment correspondent, Mike McKimm, has an update on his August 2010 report on the Northern Ireland Executive’s failure to protect and restore a special habitat, of [protected species] horse mussel beds, in Strangford Lough – a designated Special Area of Conservation, an Area of Special Scientific Interest and a Ramsar (protected wetland) site.  And it’s not good news. Eight years after first drawing attention to the problem, and six years after a formal written warning was issued from the European Commission, the …

Read more…

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

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 …

Read more…

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

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 …

Read more…

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

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 …

Read more…

“there was good news and bad news…”

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 …

Read more…

More on NI’s £60million farming subsidy mal-administration fines

The Northern Ireland Assembly’s agriculture committee is in Brussels today where they are reportedly seeking a reduction in the £60million fines imposed due to the NI Agriculture Department’s mal-administration of EU farming subsidies. But a spokesman for the EU Agriculture Commissioner has told the BBC that any reduction is unlikely. Roger Waite said he could not see the commission changing its mind on the size of the fine. “There is an appeal and a conciliation process going on which will only be …

Read more…

NI’s £60million farming subsidy mal-administration fines – Redux

The Northern Ireland Agriculture Minister, Sinn Féin’s Michelle Gildernew, and the Chairman of the Assembly Agriculture Committee, the DUP’s Ian Paisley Jnr, teamed up today on the Stormont Live sofa to defend farmers – an aging and confused group, apparently – and to criticise media coverage of the £60 million fines imposed by the EU Commission for the department’s mal-administration of EU farming subsidies. Although, they weren’t entirely on the same page… What they did agree on was that the £60 million …

Read more…

NI Agriculture Minister: “I’m not sure anybody’s really to blame…”

BBC NI’s rural affairs correspondent, Martin Cassidy, reports on the £60 million repayment sought from the Northern Ireland Executive by the EU Commission for the maladministration, by the NI Department of Agriculture, of the annual individual subsidy claims made by farmers here. In total Europe provides 300m euros to farmers here annually while the individual subsidy claims are administered locally by the Department of Agriculture. But when the European Commission sent in its team of auditors, they discovered many of …

Read more…