HC Deb 16 March 1992 vol 205 cc796-7W
Mr. Irvine

To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if he will list the achievements since 1979 of the Department of Agriculture for Northern Ireland.

Mr. Brooke

Since 1979 grants totalling £ 470 million have been paid to support capital investments on farms.

To facilitate animal disease control the Department has introduced computerised animal health records to enable the movement of animals to be monitored for disease control purposes. The Department has assisted in improving the hygiene standards of milk production resulting in the attainment of STEP II standards under the heat treated milk directive. It has also obtained an extra 65,000 tonnes of milk quota for the Province in 1984 in recognition of the special importance of milk production to the Northern Ireland economy.

Since 1979 significant scientific advances have been made and an extensive research and development programme continues.

Considerable advances have been made in assessing the pollution potential of farm effluents and an enhanced programme of marine and freshwater fisheries research, including the acquisition of a sea-going research vessel, has made a significant impact on national and international fisheries resource management. The advent of an experimental food irradiation facility has led to significant results on the extension of shelf life of food products and to a prospective methodology for the detection of irradiation treatment of foods.

The Department's staff have carried out more than one third of a million personal consultations within the agri-food industry aimed at improving the efficiency of production and marketing and co-operation between individual businesses within the industry as a whole. A quality assurance scheme has been initiated within the agri-food industry designed to promote and sell a quality assured product. The Department has also encouraged farmers and growers to adopt good health and safety practices by a fivefold increase in farm inspections resulting in a 33 per cent. decline in the number of fatal farm accidents.

Since 1979 the Department has catered for a threefold increase in the number of students on full-time and part-time courses at agricultural colleges and in excess of a sevenfold increase in the number of participants on short courses.

Landings of fish into Northern Ireland ports have increased from the 12,800 tonnes in 1979 to 24,400 tonnes in 1991 and the number of persons employed full-time in the catching sector of the industry increased from 700 to 1,050. Numbers employed in the fish processing sector have also increased. Major development works costing some £ 8.8 million have been carried out at the three main fishery harbours in the Province.

Timber sales by the Department's Forest Service have increased from 54,000 m3— value £ 580,000— in 1979 to 184,000 m3— value £ 3.6 million—in 1991. In the same period some 9,500 hectares of new afforestation has taken place and 10 new nature reserves have been established on forest land.

A total of £ 80 million has been spent by the Department on capital projects to improve drainage infrastructure and to assist development. Currently some £ 17 million per annum is spent on new schemes and maintenance works to alleviate flooding and minimise risk to life and damage to property.

Since 1987 the environmentally sensitive areas scheme has attracted a total of almost 1,000 farmers to enter 18,000 hectares of land in five-year agreements with the Department to use environmentally friendly farming practices.

Some 160 water recreation projects have been completed.