24 February 2025

SDLP Opposition AERA Spokesperson Patsy McGlone MLA has said a cynical stunt from the DUP in the Assembly has exposed the failure of Ministers to properly maintain regulations around high quality food standards.

He was speaking after the DUP brought forward a Prayer of Annulment (POA) on Monday relating to livestock identification, registration and movement.

DAERA’s enforcement powers have been in legal uncertainty since 2021, impacting the department’s ability to take enforcement action.

Mid Ulster MLA Mr McGlone said:

“This stunt from the DUP today was a distraction from very serious issues around high-quality food standards. Farmers and businesses want clear messaging in this area and any attempt to undermine these regulations creates serious jeopardy. The value of livestock exports to the rest of this island was worth €1.75bn in 2023 and that’s far more important than the DUP’s silly Brexit ideology.

“This situation also exposes the failure of successive AERA Ministers and the department to update these important regulations. The previous DUP Minister may have had political reasons to kick this into the long grass, but I struggle to see a reason for the current Minister Andrew Muir failing to deal with this over the past year. This has left the department with no legal authority to take enforcement action around issues relating to livestock.

“Recognising the risk of this oversight causing significant embarrassment to the Minister and the department, we were asked to deal with this in secret session at the AERA Committee – which would have been convenient for the Minister, but was flat out rejected. The public deserve better than this distraction politics from the DUP and failure from the Minister and his department – people expect high standards and it’s clear that wasn’t the case in this instance.”