Dáil Éireann debate -
Wednesday, 25 Oct 2000

Vol. 524 No. 6

Written Answers. - Joint Initiatives.

Jack Wall

Question:

110 Mr. Wall asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and Rural Development the current joint initiatives which are under way at his Department and the Northern Ireland Ministry for Agriculture following on from the Good Friday Agreement and the establishment of the Council of Ministers; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [23398/00]

Minister for Agriculture, Food and Rural Development (Mr. Walsh)

Arising from the Good Friday Agreement, agriculture was identified as one of the areas for co-operation between North and South.

At the first plenary meeting of the North-South Ministerial Council in Armagh in December 1999, the areas identified for co-operation in agriculture were agreed, namely, discussion of CAP issues, animal and plant health policy and research and rural development.

I hosted the first meeting of the Agriculture North-South Ministerial Council in Dublin on 26 June last which was attended by my Northern Ireland counterpart, Ms Brid Rodgers, Minister for Agriculture and Rural Development, and by Mr. Dermot Nesbitt, a junior Minister in the Office of the First Minister and Deputy First Minister.

We reviewed the high level of existing co-operation between our two Departments and discussed the matters for enhanced co-operation in agriculture to which I have referred.

Both sides underlined the important contribution already being made to the development of agriculture by the Departments and agencies involved and we looked forward to further significant progress arising from our co-operation in the Ministerial Council. Specifically we agreed that our respective officials would prepare a detailed programme for joint action for consideration at our next meeting.

With that in mind, both sides agreed that they would identify those areas in animal and plant health research with greatest potential for enhanced co-operation and would produce a timetable for further work.

The council attached importance to developing a common response and approach to a number of issues crucial to the farming community. In this regard, it specifically considered changes regarding payments to farmers in less favoured areas under the new European rural development regulations and the issue of low incidence BSE status for Northern Ireland.

The council also noted with satisfaction the recent improvement in prices for the pig meat sector and that current forecasts for the future were positive. Both sides looked forward to examining the joint study on the pig industry then in progress.

Finally, we agreed to reconstitute a steering committee on cross-border rural development.

The terms of reference of this committee, which comprises senior officials from both Departments, are to promote maximum co-operation in the implementation of rural development programmes and on EU programmes, to exchange information on experience and best practice in both jurisdictions in relation to rural development and to continue to develop common approaches to cross-Border area based strategies and rural development research. The steering committee was asked to bring forward to the next Ministerial Council a detailed work programme in regard to its remit.

The second meeting of the Agriculture North-South Ministerial Council will be held next month. I confidently expect that, in light of the good progress made in the meantime, we will be able to commence detailed work programmes of joint co-operation in a number of the areas I have outlined.