Publication of Fivemiletown Review must mark beginning of accountability - Wilson
DUP MLA Gareth Wilson has welcomed confirmation that the independent external review into DAERA's implementation of the Fivemiletown deprivation order is expected to be published next week, saying it will represent a "moment of reckoning" for the Minister and his Department.
The Department has advised the Assembly's AERA Committee that Minister Andrew Muir expects to share the review report and departmental response with the Assembly next week, with senior officials due to appear before the Committee on 12 November.
Mr Wilson commented: "The publication of this report cannot come soon enough. For weeks, the Minister has hidden behind the fact that this review was ongoing whenever legitimate questions have been asked about the handling of the Fivemiletown case.
"Now that the review is nearing completion, we are approaching a moment of reckoning for both the Minister and his Department,” added Mr Wilson.
"Throughout this process, serious and legitimate concerns have been raised regarding how this matter has been handled. Those concerns have not gone away simply because a review was commissioned. If anything, they have intensified as more information has emerged.
"Having sight of the final report will at last allow Assembly Members, stakeholders and the wider public to properly scrutinise both the findings and the Department's response.
"The anger from within the farming community as a result of this scandal was unprecedented, and as a member of the AERA Committee, I intend to hold the Minister and senior departmental officials to account for their actions and decisions, which have led to such a serious breakdown in trust from farmers,” the MLA added.
"The Committee has a clear responsibility to establish what went wrong, whether lessons have been learned and what measures will be put in place to ensure confidence can be restored.
"The people affected by this issue, and indeed the wider agricultural community, deserve full answers. There can be no attempt to draw a line under this matter without proper examination of the facts.
"Next week's publication and committee evidence session must be the start of a process of accountability, not the end of one. I have requested that Dr Martin Blake appears before the AERA Committee once the report is published. Committee Members should have the opportunity to question the author of the review directly, rather than relying solely on the Department's interpretation of its findings. If confidence is to be restored, there must be full transparency and no opportunity for departmental spin.”