Agri-food buy in ‘essential’ on climate change - Irwin

Mr Irwin made the comments as the DAERA committee seeks more time to scrutinise the Private Members Bill tabled by Green Party MLA Claire Bailey and co-sponsored by the main Stormont Parties, with the exception of the DUP.

Mr Irwin said: “With the current weight of opinion from agri-food stakeholders, representative organisations and farmers generally, united against this Private Members Bill, this should be a firm signal that for progress to be made on the issue of climate change, there must be the full buy-in of the industry.

“With the committee seeking additional time on the bill with an extension to the committee stages being requested through the Assembly next week, it is very important that industry representatives and farmers generally continue to record their dissatisfaction with this Private Members Bill to local elected representatives and their industry representative groups.”

He continued, “The fact that the DAERA Minister Edwin Poots MLA is working on a Departmental Climate Change Bill should encourage those parties in the Assembly to stop and think. Rather than create unworkable and unachievable targets through this PMB, parties should instead throw their weight behind DAERA’s own legislative efforts which have the valued and vital input of the UK Climate Change Committee with expert advice and more achievable aims and objectives.”

He concluded: “What is absolutely vital is the fact that Northern Ireland still needs a viable and thriving agri-food sector at the end of any climate change action process. With the Green Party Bill meaning a huge and destructive 50% cut in production, this will simply and foolishly ship emmissions to other countries and in turn we would simply be cutting our nose off to spite our face. The Assembly must not permit an act of economic and environmental damage to be sustained and we must work with DAERA and Minister Poots to achieve meaningful and realistic progress.”