UFU unanimously passes vote of no confidence in DAERA
The Ulster Farmers’ Union (UFU) vote of no confidence in the Department for Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs (DAERA) has been described as a "seismic moment".
The vote of no confidence was unanimously passed by the UFU at its executive committee meeting on Wednesday night (October 29).
UFU president William Irvine said that the vote of no confidence was first suggested in early summer, "following the release of the flawed Nutrients Action Programme consultation".
"We gave DAERA time to see if things would improve, but after mounting frustration over the last few months on a host of other issues, this vote of no confidence was unanimously agreed at our executive meeting.
"The result of no confidence in DAERA represents a deep dissatisfaction from UFU members on how the Department is handling key issues affecting farmers," he said.
UFU
Irvine said that the UFU had continued to engage with the department "in good faith, remaining patient and hopeful that co-operation would yield results, but felt this was not being reciprocated by DAERA".
"From wildlife intervention to tackle bovine tuberculosis (bTB), ammonia controls and planning in relation to the Nutrients Action Programme, sheep sector support and a generational renewal scheme under the sustainable farming programme, DAERA is failing to deliver for the farming industry.
“There is also the ongoing unjustified focus on agriculture regarding climate change and Lough Neagh. Plus, the recent AFBI data breach and heightened concerns around data security," he said.
The UFU president said farmers are "prepared to play our part in creating an environmentally and economically sustainable agriculture industry".
However, he said "DAERA needs to work with farmers to deliver what is needed, and regrettably this has not happened".
"Our members now have zero confidence in DAERA’s willingness or ability and this unanimous vote of no confidence is unfortunately a very stark reflection of DAERA’s failings and inadequacies," Irvine added.
A DAERA spokesperson told Agriland: "The department is disappointed to learn of the UFU vote. Our door is always open to discuss issues with them."
Seismic moment
Ulster Unionist Party (UUP) spokesperson on agriculture Robbie Butler said the vote of no confidence was "unprecedented".
The MLA who is also chair of the Assembly’s Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs Committee added it was "a damning indictment of a minister and a department that have fundamentally failed Northern Ireland’s farming community".
"This is not just a warning shot, it is a seismic moment," he said.
"This is a clear and unambiguous message from the farming community, they feel abandoned, ignored, and betrayed.
"The challenges facing farmers, from inheritance tax uncertainty and the persistent failure to tackle bovine TB, to the deeply flawed Nutrients Action Programme, have been met with indifference and delay.
"Added to this is the Department’s failure to facilitate policy-compliant planning applications due to a risk reversed attitude to ammonia emissions, which has paralysed progress and investment across the agri-food sector.
“Morale across the sector is at rock bottom. Farmers are exhausted from being dictated to rather than engaged with.
"This vote is not about party politics, it is about survival. It is about the livelihoods of farm families who feel disrespected and disregarded," Butler added.
The MLA said that Minister of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs Andrew Muir "must treat this as the wake up call it is".
"He must urgently meet with the UFU and listen, like really listen, to what farmers are saying, and take concrete steps to restore trust. The department must stop talking at farmers and start working with them," he said.
Momentous
DUP agriculture spokesperson Carla Lockhart said the vote of no confidence in DAERA was "a momentous and damning indictment of Minister Muir and his department’s total failure to stand with, and support farming and rural communities in Northern Ireland".
"This move won’t have been taken lightly by the UFU, but it lays bare the deep anger and frustration that exists right across our farming and rural communities. Frustration and dissatisfaction that has been evident and escalating for some time.
"For months I have warned about the direction of travel within DAERA. Just a few days ago in the House of Commons I declared that DAERA’s agenda is anti-rural, anti-farmer and anti–common sense.
"From flawed consultations to the complete failure to engage or listen, the Minister has shown himself to be no friend of the farmer and no champion for rural Northern Ireland," the MP claimed.
"Farmers across Northern Ireland feel anxious, ignored, side-lined and left carrying the burden of policies that show little understanding of the realities on the ground," Lockhart said.
"Our farmers deserve better. They demand respect, partnership, and a government that works with them, not against them," she added.
Agriland has contacted Minister Andrew Muir for comment.
