Collaboration between DAERA and southern counterparts continues

The matter was raised by a number of committee members. Mr John Dallat (SDLP, East Londonderry) asked the minister: “Much of the effluent that is produced by the digester units is exported to a plant in Donegal, which, I believe, the Assembly partly funded. . .Are we guaranteed that that practice will continue?”

Minister Poots replied: “That would be for chicken-litter waste. Chicken litter has very high ammonia levels. Quite a lot of that is being spread and immediately ploughed in, which needs to happen to reduce the impact of the ammonia.

“Ultimately, we need to find a better way of dealing with chicken litter. There was a proposal to incinerate it at Crumlin, but that did not go ahead.

“There are issues with that. I personally think that there are opportunities for collaboration between other people in waste to work with the chicken industry to identify solutions, because chicken litter has high calorific value when burned to produce energy, and the scrubbers that can be put in chimneys and so on can take out an awful lot of emissions.

“Probably the most environmentally friendly way of dealing with chicken litter is to do so that way.

“I know that it is being used in Donegal, but anaerobic digesters do not particularly like chicken litter. It is very sore on the equipment because of the ammonia. Parts of the equipment need to be replaced often, so it can be expensive.”

Mrs Rosemary Barton (UUP, Fermanagh and South Tyrone) also put questions to the minister and his aids on the subject.

She asked: “Given that acceptable levels for ammonia differ on both sides of the border, how much collaboration is there between the Department of Agriculture here and its equivalent in the south when setting up poultry units etc? Is there collaboration?”

Addressing this question DAERA’s Dr Denis McMahon (DAERA) said: “In the context of all the discussions around trade after Brexit and the various scenarios that have panned out over the past year, we have been working very closely with colleagues in the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (DAFM) to understand what will happen around matters such as the export health certificate (EHC), which at one stage was a big issue.

“We have a good working relationship, as you would expect, with DAFM on a whole range of issues, including some of the ones that you mentioned.

“We try to learn as much as we can from each other and from other administrations, and that tends to be a very useful process, which the minister is very happy to support, because it is about good practice.”

Mrs Barton asked: “I take it that they adhere to similar planning regulations when setting up poultry units.”

Responding to the question Mr David Small (DAERA) said: “The planning systems are independent of each other, so every element of them will not be totally the same. There are slightly different policies, north and south.

“However, we have had good discussions and engagement with colleagues in the South, specifically around the ammonia challenges. The ammonia problems that we are facing here are also being addressed in the south.

“I know that colleagues there are doing what we are doing here, which is looking at solutions, such as those that the minister has outlined, as to what could be put in place to help the industry reduce its ammonia emissions.

“As I said, the two planning systems are independent, but, certainly in Northern Ireland, the planning committees act as competent authorities.

“When they make planning decisions on any kind of development, including agricultural and intensive agricultural development, they need to take account of all the relevant obligations that we have under EU law, such as EU directives and so on.

“We do have an advisory role to play as a statutory consultee, and we will offer our comments on whether we believe a development could have an adverse impact on the environment, but it is ultimately for the planning committee, as the competent authority, to make the final decision.”