Edwin Poots
South Belfast · Democratic Unionist Party · Northern Ireland
“I call Mr Eóin Tennyson. Again, this is Mr Tennyson's first opportunity to speak as a private Member, so I remind the House that it is convention that a maiden speech be made without interruption. However, if you choose to express views that provoke an interruption, you are likely to forfeit that protection.”
“Sorry — Ms Armstrong. My apologies. <BR /> <BR />That the Assembly could, in some way, get that money out when it is a UK Government responsibility. The UK Government have distributed it directly in Scotland and Wales, not through the Welsh Parliament and not through the Scottish Parliament.”
“I have not got time; I am sorry. <BR /> <BR />Ursula von der Leyen, who was in the Republic last week, made some of the most ridiculous claims about the British Government, who have supported Ukraine in a way that no other Government in Europe have and who have never engaged in the activity that was suggested by Ursula von der Leyen.”
“Today, a lot of statements have been made but there has not been a lot of fact behind a lot of what has been said. We have Michelle O'Neill, who walked out of her role as Health Minister — not for six months but for three years — and abandoned her position when we had Bengoa and there were all the problems with nursing that led to the str…”
“I need to deal with the issues first. <BR /> <BR />He referred to the Budget that he produced. No party supported that Budget. The Alliance Party did not support it, because it did not cover policing and prisons. Infrastructure did not support it, because it would not allow it to do the basics of what had to be done.”
“We had a circumstance where Sinn Féin repeated, month after month after month, that there were hundreds of millions to give to the public when that did not exist and when, in reality, Minister Murphy was racking up debt that will roll into next year, which will ensure that that will be a difficult financial year.”
The complete record
Every one of 3,549 lines we hold for Edwin Poots, in date order, each linked to its source. Free to read, in full, without an account. Page 40 of 71.
“There will be a series of measures relating to farming and farming practice. Considerable steps have already been taken on that front, right through to how we deal with the issue of other spreaders to the animal population. A responsibility will be placed on us all to ensure that we continue to drive down that disease in the bovine population and ensure that we have a healthier bovine and, indeed, wildlife population when that is concluded.”
“Eradication of bovine TB remains one of my top priorities. I am well aware of the devastating emotional and financial impact a TB breakdown can have on farming families across Northern Ireland when disease is found in their herds. Therefore, I intend to move forward with the strategy as soon as possible, although some of the strategy recommendations that are subject to my final approval are likely to require changes to existing legislation and further consultation. Officials are working at pace to finalise the strategy and its accompanying business case. Once that work has been completed, I will be in a position to make a final and informed decision on the elements of a bovine TB eradication strategy that will ensure a holistic approach and address all the key factors in the maintenance and spread of the disease in Northern Ireland.”
“Certainly, the issues that relate to air quality are greater in Belfast, followed by Londonderry, which stands to sense, than in any other part of Northern Ireland. Therefore, much of our work to tackle the issue of air quality will relate to the city of Belfast.”
“Certainly. Once I have considered the options and decided on a policy direction, officials will begin to draft the first clean air strategy for Northern Ireland. It will be a shorter and more focused document than the current discussion document, and it will contain specific proposals on policy and on other measures that can improve air quality. The draft clean air strategy will be subject to an additional public consultation due to its cross-cutting nature and policy area. Therefore, I will also seek Executive approval, and I trust that it will be forthcoming.”
“As a consequence of the initial review and assessment process, Belfast City Council commenced an extensive monitoring programme of nitrogen dioxide because it was the main pollutant of concern in Belfast and, in particular, the east of the city.”
“That was a very interesting case. Whilst Belfast does not have to absorb the pollutants from anywhere near the number of vehicles that London does, the air does not change quickly because it lies in a series of hills. Therefore, pollutants tend to stay in the atmosphere. <BR /> <BR />Nitrogen dioxide, in particular, is a pollutant that was identified in a review and assessment process that took place in conjunction with the city council and was completed in early 2004. The assessment concluded that modelled and monitored exceedances of short- and long-term objectives for both nitrogen dioxide and particulate matter were occurring in the city and were likely to continue to do so in locations beyond 2010.”
“<BR /> <BR />Passive sampling using diffusion tubes takes place at a further seven locations across the East Belfast constituency at North Road; Short Strand; Knock Road; Station Road; Upper Newtownards Road and Hollywood Road; Titanic Quarter; and Upper Knockbreda Road. Historic data for the Ballyhackamore site, and all other monitoring stations in the network, is available on my Department’s Northern Ireland air website. <BR /> <BR />I encourage everyone to visit the site, where you can download the new Northern Ireland air app, see the locations of the monitoring stations and receive the most up-to-date information on the quality of air across Northern Ireland.”
“Air quality in the East Belfast constituency is monitored at an automatic monitoring station based at Ballyhackamore on the Upper Newtownards Road. At this stage, nitrogen dioxide pollution is monitored at that station. Additional nitrogen dioxide monitoring, known as passive sampling, is carried out at roadside locations using diffusion tubes located at a number of locations across East Belfast. There is also a diffusion tube co-location study, with three diffusion tubes located in close proximity to the Ballyhackamore automatic site. These two methods of monitoring complement each other and strengthen the data gathered.”
“I am not in a position to do that. The Finance Minister did give some thoughts on the matter this morning. He thought that the main aim of the funding was to level up the south and north of England. However, if we do get our share through the Barnett formula, it will be ultimately for the Executive to decide how it is spent. I welcome any support from Sinn Féin Members to suggest that the Finance Minister should direct that funding to rural communities through DAERA. That would be an excellent suggestion.”
“The question is more appropriate for the Minister of Finance. However, I am aware that, as part of the spending review announced on 25 November 2020, the UK Government launched a new levelling up fund worth £4 billion for England. It will also attract up to £0·8 billion for Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. Funding to the Northern Ireland Executive will be in line with the Barnett formula and based upon allocations to Whitehall Departments, and that will follow a competitive process. The timing and quantum of the allocations remain uncertain. As with all allocations under the Barnett formula, funding will be unhypothecated, meaning that it will be for the Executive to determine how it is spent in Northern Ireland. The Minister of Finance should be able to provide an update on the fund when there is more clarity from the Treasury.”
“That issue was also discussed with Minister Prentis today. Further to that, my Department has written to the Irish Government and requested meetings. I am waiting for Minister McConalogue to facilitate that meeting. I hope that it will be sooner rather than later. I had hoped that it would be last week, but I am in their hands. I have requested the meeting. I cannot force it.”
“The problem that the Scots have is getting goods over the Dover-Calais strait and down from Peterhead to there in a reasonable time. They should not be letting langoustines rot; most people freeze them. That is what normally happens. In any event, we have full access to the single market and will seek to utilise that. <BR /> <BR />One of the problems that we had previously is that around £5 million of fish from Scotland was brought here for processing to be sold, and that will have a significant impact if we can no longer import those fish for further sale. On the internal market issue, over 50% of our trade is from Northern Ireland to GB, and over 50% of our imports come from GB, so those who advocated putting barriers in that market were advocating foolishness of the highest order.”
“A key aspect of fishing is that we provide the skippers and others man the boats. A lot of those folks come from other parts of Europe and, indeed, other parts of the world. Having it recognised as a skilled trade was critical. We welcomed the views of the migration advisory committee (MAC), but it is important that the Home Office fully accepts those views, which will allow us to bring in high-quality fishermen. Many of them will probably be from the Philippines and some will be from Ghana. There is a really good pool of people out there who have particular expertise. You cannot just put any labourer on to a boat. It is very specialised work, and if we are to harvest the seas in a sustainable way, we will need people from other countries to assist us in doing that.”
“As the Member rightly points out, the allocation of the £100 million should not be associated with Barnett, and, as I rightly pointed out to Minister Prentis, the need in Northern Ireland is slightly different from the need in Shropshire.”
“From 2.00 pm to 2.30 pm, I had a meeting with Minister Prentis and her team from the United Kingdom Government, and we discussed those very issues. We expressed our disappointment, which she agreed with, with the actual outcome, and we raised the issue of the £100 million. We also raised the issue of the number of fish that we catch outside of the Irish Sea. A considerable amount of the traditional catch is outside of the Irish Sea box, and that needs to be taken into account when the UK quota is being distributed. <BR /> <BR />Northern Ireland has been taking around 8·4% of the UK fish catch traditionally. I am pressing for that to continue to be the case in the allocation of quota.”
“<BR /> <BR />The outcomes for the main Irish Sea stocks are as follows: the area VII nephrops share will go up from 33% to 42% by 2025; the Irish Sea herring share will increase from 74% to 99% by 2025; the Irish Sea cod share, previously at 29%, will rise to 45% by 2025; the whiting share will rise from 39% to 61% by 2025; and the Irish Sea haddock share will increase from 48% to 56%.”
“<BR /> <BR />By 2025, we will have almost all the Irish Sea herring quota, and, from 2021, the much-hated Hague preference, which led to annual reductions in our shares of cod, whiting, plaice and sole, has gone. Overall, my assessment is that the increased shares for area VII nephrops and Irish Sea stocks will give security to the Northern Ireland fishing fleet. They will allow it to fish to its current levels but without the added cost of securing additional quota to meet its needs.”
“The analysis of the outcome of the UK-EU trade and cooperation agreement by the Northern Ireland Fishermen's Federation, in particular the part that deals with the fisheries agreement, reflects understandable disappointment from the industry that more was not achieved. <BR /> <BR />As the analysis points out, however, Northern Ireland fishermen will still have a greater share of Irish Sea fish stocks than they had previously. Those gains are not of the magnitude that they had hoped for, but they are gains nonetheless. They will save the industry financially, as it will not have to engage in expensive quota swaps to obtain the additional quota.”
“The Member always likes to get one up on his unionist colleagues. He has been attempting to pin this one on me for a long time, unsuccessfully thus far, with the exception of among a small number of people. He knows full well that that is an element of the protocol; that the UK Government have demanded the infrastructure and are paying for it in its entirety; and that I have given no instruction whatsoever to any official to build anything at the ports, which, in any event, is land that does not belong to my Department. <BR /> <BR />I have the legal advice here. The Member is a Queen's Counsel, so he knows a bit about the law. He knows more about the law than any of us. He therefore knows how inappropriate it is for him to ask a Minister to break the law in the course of doing his job.”
“All the goods coming to Northern Ireland that require sanitary and phytosanitary (SPS) checks have those checks, so goods that have had the appropriate SPS checks should, in theory, be able to be moved to the Republic of Ireland without issue, because they have entered the single market at that point, and that should not be an issue. <BR /> <BR />That having been said, the Irish Government seem to have created a problem of their own, in that fishermen who are landing fish can land them in only a small number of ports in Ireland. The remarkable thing is that they could bring the fish that they catch on the north and west coast of Ireland back to Lisahally port, put it on to a lorry and drive it to exactly the same port in the Republic of Ireland. We therefore need a bit of common sense to be applied on the Republic of Ireland side as well.”
“My preference is that substantial elements of the protocol be reviewed, up to and including invoking article 16, because, at the moment, it is causing hardship to the community and could cause far greater hardship if it goes ahead as planned.”
“DAERA has been working extremely hard with everyone that it can to indicate what is coming down the line with the implementation of the protocol and its legal ramifications. Consequently, there was not the same level of preparation on the Great Britain side than there was on the Northern Ireland side. Leaving that aside, even with all the preparations that had taken place on the Northern Ireland side, there would still have been considerable problems as a consequence of the quick implementation of the protocol. We need time to work that through, and EU officials need to recognise that forcing it on at a faster pace will cause massive problems for Northern Ireland. We need to be able to respond to the situation in a sensible way.”
“The BBC, other media outlets and, indeed, other politicians may seek to undermine what I said and try to create a discrepancy around the veracity of the minute, but it is there.”
“I thank the Member for his question. Considerable discussions are taking place regularly at the highest level of government with Michael Gove, George Eustice, Brandon Lewis and the appropriate Cabinet Secretaries. In our regular meetings, Ministers and Members of Parliament are hearing about the issues. We need to recognise that those issues are significant, but the three-month and six-month cliff edges are where they become really problematic. That will have an impact on our hospitality sector, and, unless changes are made, it will lead to disruption of supplies to schools, hospitals and prisons. <BR /> <BR />I reiterate that, because some people were particularly disingenuous in the last week when I raised that matter. That is what the minute of the meeting describes; it is not my minute but the official minute of the meeting.”
“DEFRA colleagues and HMRC representatives participated in the event and extended the communication reach to GB businesses via their engagement channels. Members of the Trade and Agriculture Commission will also alert their counterpart representative organisations in GB to the opportunity to dial in to those events. Work is ongoing with DEFRA colleagues to develop complementary messaging around key issues and a structured approach to assisting businesses to adapt to ongoing changes following the end of the grace period.”
“Our departmental officials have worked very hard with everyone to deal with issues that have arisen in the internal market as a consequence of the protocol, which was supported by Sinn Féin, the SDLP, Alliance and the Green Party, who all called for its rigorous implementation. What we are seeing at the moment is light-touch implementation, and the problems that we are facing are a consequence of light-touch implementation. Once we get the rigorous implementation that the parties requested, we will be in a considerably worse position. <BR /> <BR />DAERA hosted an end-of-transition webinar on 7 January, which targeted businesses in GB and Northern Ireland and was aimed at helping to implement the new arrangements.”
“As a result of the protocol, UKG and the European Union have ensured additional costs to businesses and Northern Ireland consumers and have impacted market chains, reducing choice and limiting supply from GB businesses. We also need to work to mitigate cliff edges at the end of the grace period in the next three to six months.”
“Those are long-term problems and are not easily solved, and many are proving to be intractable. However, we will continue to try to mitigate those and call on the EU to show pragmatism for Northern Ireland. <BR /> <BR />My officials are working with industry, logistics companies and hauliers to achieve compliance. I have also raised the matters with the United Kingdom Government (UKG) and the Commission's vice president to highlight the current difficulties and to press for better solutions. <BR /> <BR />I am clear that, while we are working towards solutions, the protocol is the main cause of the disruption in the internal market.”
“With your permission, Mr Deputy Speaker, I will take questions 1 and 13 together. <BR /> <BR />My Department has made every effort to prepare traders and haulage businesses for implementing the new processes that are required to move goods from Great Britain to Northern Ireland. In November and December, the Department held a series of trader information seminars, during which presentations were made to a large range of stakeholders. The processes were explained, and participants were able to put specific questions to an expert panel. <BR /> <BR />We are in the early weeks of working with the new arrangements that have been brought about by EU exit. There is a period of adjustment as everyone adapts. The regulatory checks under the protocol are particularly pronounced for agri-food.”
“The honeybee is an incredibly important aspect of our environment and biodiversity. I have spoken to officials about developing a strategy on honeybees and worms, as both species make a massively important contribution. Some people perceive them as just tiny insects, but they have a vital role in the successful production of our food. It is certainly something that we are cognisant of. America has lost about a third of its honeybee population through the production of almonds, because people think that they are helping the environment by drinking almond milk. However, the consequences of doing that are devastating. <BR /> <BR />We are very supportive of the honeybee population, and we will be looking at measures to increase the numbers of honeybees in Northern Ireland.”
“Absolutely. One of the issues that is holding back the farm business investment scheme from being rolled-out further is the ability of people to actually get planning approvals to carry out the investments that they wish to make. The remarkable thing is that, in some instances, the refurbishment or replacement of existing buildings would lead to lower ammonia emissions, yet the planning refusal recommendations still exist. We really do need to have a practical, common-sense approach to this, and as I indicated very clearly, planning is not the means of doing it. Having an ammonia strategy that is effective in reducing the amount of ammonia getting into our atmosphere is the way forward.”
“Like a lot of organisations, NIEA has quite a lot of staffing pressures, and COVID has not helped things. Nonetheless, we still have targets that have been set for good for good reason and which we should be seeking to fulfil. <BR /> <BR />We also have the complication of what we are going to do about ammonia. I have indicated that, at the moment, we should use the 1% threshold, as opposed to the 0·1% threshold that the Shared Environmental Services (SES) referred to, while we produced the ammonia strategy, which is almost ready to go out. It is entirely reasonable for us to do that, given that the ammonia strategy is a plan to significantly reduce the amount of ammonia in the atmosphere. Consequently, it would be a better instrument to deal with the issue than planning.”
“<BR /> <BR />Approval for moving CLLD funding to other measures, which is permitted by the UK managing authority and the Commission through an EMFF operational programme amendment, will be sought through ministerial submission on the proposed variations with the Northern Ireland EMFF programme that are required to ensure that all EMFF funding available to Northern Ireland is fully utilised and not returned to the Commission. It is anticipated that the submission will be made in April 2021.”
“<BR /> <BR />SEAFLAG staff are confident that there are further potential applications that will be submitted, should the scheme reopen, and which will utilise much of the current underspend. Should a surplus remain on 30 April 2021, the options are for a further opening of the scheme to 31 May 2021 or the movement of funding from the CLLD measure to other measures within the Northern Ireland EMFF programme that have achieved or are nearing full commitment and there are project applications in place to utilise the funds.”
“We recognise that, at present, there is an underspend of around £1·5 million under the community-led local development (CLLD) measure. Even if all 24 applications under assessment are supported, a maximum of £1·1 million European Maritime and Fisheries Fund (EMFF) funding would be required for those 24 projects. That is where the £400,000 comes from. It is unlikely that all applications will be successful, so the underspend is anticipated to be between £400,000 and £600,000. However, it is proposed to open the CLLD scheme for applications on 2 January 2021 and for it to remain open until 31 March 2021 to attract further applications that can utilise that underspend, with the full budget being committed by 30 June 2021. These target dates are within the permitted timescales for the EMFF programme.”
“Once outside the European Union, we will have considerable scope. We are in discussions on state aid to maximise the money that we can have for agriculture and fisheries. State aid for fisheries is still being extensively debated. I hope that we will get an outcome that ensures that we can provide good support to fisheries and enable those local groups to provide support to the industry.”
“Earlier, when I was reporting on how we will implement the new single farm payment system, that point was raised by another Member, and we certainly need to keep it in mind. While we want it to happen and ensure that it is utilised as much as possible, we recognise that, on certain land, the weightier the machinery, the more difficult, and sometimes more dangerous, it is. We need to take that into account, so I thank the Member for that point.”
“I have asked officials to look at that. There are two sets of farmers in Glenelly: those with upland farms; and those who are further downstream. The Department has indicated that it has already provided a lot of support. Through the Loughs Agency and the environmental farming scheme, it has provided fencing. We need to look at that area to ensure that, if we were to provide support, we would not be double granting. Other areas that we will look at include the desilting of land, the reseeding of land and the other damage done to properties. I have tasked officials to look at that, and they will bring back a report to me, hopefully in the not-too-distant future.”
“I am happy to discuss how we could expand that service with the PHA and the Department of Health. One of the big issues in health that we are all aware of is that early detection saves lives: early detection of cancers, circulatory illnesses, blood pressure problems and so on, and the prevention of heart attacks. The more we do this, the more conditions we will detect early and, consequently, the more we will avoid something that would be much more expensive for the healthcare system and, more importantly, far more damaging to the individual. I am happy to work with the Department of Health and the Public Health Agency on identifying how we can expand the service. I am happy to prioritise money for that because it has to be an absolute priority. I am happy to commit to that.”
“It has particularly impacted on our older population, and many of our farmers and users of the service are from among the older population. <BR /> <BR />We therefore really need to ensure that the services that we provide go way beyond just looking at COVID. We still need to look for cancers, for example. It is very concerning that Cancer Focus has indicated that around 1,000 fewer cancers have been detected this year than had been at the same time last year. I am therefore absolutely delighted that the services that are provided at the marts and in other rural locations are up and running again.”
“That service has been run between the Department and the Public Health Agency (PHA). There are significant benefits to having the vans there at the current time. Appropriate arrangements are being made to ensure the safety of both staff and users. One of the things that the vans are there to help with is people's mental health. They do physical checks, but they also have conversations around mental health. <BR /> <BR />We all know that mental health is a significant issue in rural areas. Over the period of COVID, there has been a substantial deterioration in mental health across the country generally, and particularly for people who are more isolated. As a consequence of that isolation, those people have less and less opportunity to interact and engage with other human beings face to face.”
“I entirely agree. We are not leaving the EU as one, which is an irritation to the likes of me. That, however, is an arrangement that has been arrived at between the European Union and Her Majesty's Government. Westminster has sovereignty on these issues. Consequently, we have to live with the outcomes, be they good or be they ill. We can protest and seek to moderate and make changes, and I have been very busy in seeking to moderate and make changes for the benefit of Northern Ireland to mitigate the more damaging aspects of the protocol as it is applied.”
“I thank the Member for the question. The Trader Support Service is a device of Her Majesty's Government and HMRC. It is a new and unprecedented service. It is a free-to-use, end-to-end service that will guide traders through any changes to the way in which goods move between Great Britain and Northern Ireland and into Northern Ireland from outside the UK. Essentially, the Trader Support Service will act as a customs agent and complete declarations on behalf of traders. We encourage any business that moves goods between GB and NI to register for the service and get advice on the new processes being introduced as a result of the protocol.”
“<BR /> <BR />My officials have written to DEFRA requesting that specific sanitary and phytosanitary (SPS) issues affecting plants and plant products moving from GB to NI, including seed and ware potatoes, are addressed urgently with the EU to enable continuity of essential trade from GB to Northern Ireland in plant and plant products after implementation period (IP) completion day. <BR /> <BR />I have also written to Minister McConalogue in the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine in Dublin asking for his support in seeking EU agreement to the UK application for GB third-country listing, which would allow the continuation of the important and integrated trade in potatoes among GB, NI and ROI.”
“I wrote to Minister Eustice on 30 October highlighting the significance of this issue to the Northern Ireland agriculture and food services sector and urged him to expedite agreement with the EU on third-country listing for GB to enable seed and ware potatoes to be marketed in Northern Ireland. I have also asked for a derogation to the prohibition that will apply to seed and ware potatoes from GB due to its classification as a third country. I have highlighted the need for a commitment to secure a proportionate easement to the EU legislative phytosanitary certification requirements and associated costs.”
“The dumping of tyres is a big issue, and, in my area, quite a bit of that goes on. It is clearly wrong, and, very often, it is left to the landowner, which is entirely inappropriate. Someone dumps on their land and the consequence is that someone who has no role in this is left to deal with the problems arising from it. <BR /> <BR />There has been an uplift in fly-tipping this year. It is hard to assess it fully yet. It has not been massive, but it has gone up, and we associate a degree of that with the closure of the household waste recycling centres. I welcome the fact that almost all of them are operational again, and it is incumbent upon councils to ensure that they are kept operational going forward.”
“With a lot of the packaging that is involved — for example, with fast-food outlets — we will get rid of the material that does not biodegrade. Work will be done on that. Essentially, this is an educational process whereby people need to recognise that it is wrong to throw out litter and wrong to fly-tip. Everybody knows it, but there is a hard core of people who seem to continue to engage in it, and, as a consequence, they spoil our countryside.”
“Yes, I totally agree with the Member: it is very irritating when you are in the countryside and find fast-food-outlet material, cans, bottles, cigarette packets or sweet papers lying at the side of the road. There is a whole panoply of stuff that people throw out of their cars while driving along the roads. I do not understand it, because it is so easy to put it into a small bag and put it into the appropriate bin when you get home. People seem to think that it cannot stay in their car for any longer than five seconds after it comes out of a wrapper. <BR /> <BR />We are working on developing the removal of single-use plastics on nine different items, and we intend to bring that proposal to the Assembly quite soon.”
“With the form of government that we have, local government has the responsibility for this, and it is for local government to respond to its board, as such, which is its councillors, who have the responsibility to ensure that public policy is upheld. I suggest that the best way of actually ensuring that the council is enacting its powers appropriately is for the councillors themselves to ensure that officers are ensuring that the regime is in place to have appropriate waste controls, including the nuisance litter that people drop.”
“<BR /> <BR />Finally, I can advise that discussions have also been ongoing with the councils in relation to commencing further elements of the waste and contaminated land legislation to provide additional enforcement and clean-up powers to both my Department and councils to help tackle the scourge of illegal waste disposal.”