NEWS

Compromise over new diseases Bill
By Steven Moore

DARD and the Stormont Agriculture Committee have reached a compromise over a controversial clause in new legislation that will allow farmers guilty of spreading disease to be denied their compensation.
MLAs had already clashed with Minister Michelle Gildernew and her officials several times over their belief that the new Diseases of Animals Bill gave officials too much power.
Committee members expressed the concern that the legislation was too sweeping and questioned the perimeters of the bio-security measures that could be imposed.
However, on Tuesday Ms Gildernew appeared before the committee to tell MLAs that she was proposing a revised version of the most controversial clause in the Bill that would confine it specifically to Brucellosis.
She has also created a new stakeholders group - which met on Wednesday for the first time - consisting of representatives from the UFU, NIAPA, NBA and vets - to consider what bio-security measures should be included and the circumstances under which compensation for livestock lost should be withheld from those deemed responsible for the disease's spread.
Ms Gildernew said she looked forward to returning to the committee at some stage to tell them that the province was Brucellosis free and repeated her determination to eradicate the disease.
She described her earlier meetings with the committee as "robust and challenging" but said ultimately a better Bill had emerged from the process.

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September 18th 2009
September 11rd 2009