Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs Minister has marked his first year in
office with a renewed commitment to balancing environmental
sustainability with the continued success of Northern Ireland's
vital agri-food sector.
A number of key decisions have been taken in the first year that
aim to protect our environment, enhance the sustainability of our
agriculture sector, meet our climate change obligations and
improve animal welfare.
Speaking of his first year, Minister Muir said: “It's an
enormous privilege to serve as Minister. I took on the job one
year ago knowing the scale of the challenge and with a guiding
mission to deliver for the people of Northern Ireland. I am glad
to have achieved progress in a number of really important
areas.
"I am firmly committed to travelling a journey of change
together with others to improve our environment, secure a
successful and sustainable future for agriculture, reduce
emissions, strengthen rural communities and improve animal
welfare.
"I know that the challenges are substantial, demonstrated
most starkly by the ecological and biodiversity crisis at Lough
Neagh. The path ahead will continue to require tough decisions
and strong leadership but I don't shy away from that as people
deserve nothing less”.
The Minister said he was proud of achievements so far, including:
- The Lough Neagh Action Plan, containing 37 recommendations to
improve water quality, with 10 already delivered and many others
underway.
- Publication of Northern Ireland's first Environmental
Improvement Plan
- Launch and continued delivery of the Sustainable Agriculture
Programme
- Progressing the climate change agenda with the setting of
Carbon Budgets and the 2040 emissions target, Public Body
Reporting regulations made and consulting on the establishment of
a Just Transition Commission.
- Introduced Pet Abduction offences and legislation to
implement public safeguarding measures for XL Bully type dogs
- PGI status for Irish Grass Fed Beef attained
- £3.5million Fisheries Grants support to support the
resilience of the fisheries sector.
- 2200 rural community organisations and micro businesses have
received £7.9m through a range of initiatives.
Reflecting on the year ahead, Minister Muir said: “The
priority is to continue delivery and tackle a number of
challenging and long standing issues such as ammonia and bTB with
good groundwork now in place.
“In addition to that, I hope to publish our first Climate
Action Plan and the Green Growth strategy, as well as rolling out
schemes under the newly named Sustainable Agriculture
Programme.
“I will also continue work on strengthening environmental
governance arrangements and putting in place a new policy to aid
rural communities in Northern Ireland.
The Minister confirmed that he wants to put a sharp focus on
strengthening animal welfare in Northern Ireland: “This
includes focusing on progressing a range of policies such as
Lucy's Law to ban third party sale of puppies and kittens, and
outlawing the use of adverse training devices such as shock
collars”
Concluding Minister Muir said: “I remain deeply committed
to delivering across the full remit of my Department together
with others.”
