§ The Lord President of the Council (Baroness Amos)My honourable friend the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Northern Ireland has made the following Ministerial Statement.
I am today announcing my decision to extend the role of the new non-departmental public body, which will take over responsibility for the functions of the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development's Science Service in 2006.
I previously announced the Government's decisions in response to the O'Hare report on the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development's arrangements for the provision of agrifood education and R & D in Northern Ireland on 31 March 2003. Within that Statement, I announced that provision was to be retained within DAR D to provide emergency response and surveillance. However. following further analysis and consideration of the functions and organisation of the new NDPB, it has become clear that this emergency response capability should also transfer to the new body.
I am confident that this extended role for the NDPB will enable DARD, working in close co-operation with the body, to handle any future emergencies in the animal health sector. Furthermore, I believe that the decision which I am announcing today will ensure a more coherent organisation, without duplication or overlap, and better placed to provide the services required by its customers. It is estimated that around 220 staff who would have been retained within DARD will now move to the new NDPB, bringing its total staff numbers, including those moving from the Agricultural Research Institute for Northern Ireland (ARINI) to around 850.
The decision to place ARINI in the NDP13 is unaffected by this change.