Single Farm Payments

Speech by David Ford delivered to Assembly, 4 June 2007 on Tue 5th Jun 2007

Mr Ford: As with most Members who have spoken, I have an interest to declare. Although the modest amount of single farm payment that my wife receives does not make a great deal of difference to my finances, it is listed in the register of interests.

On behalf of the United Community group, I support the motion, and congratulate Mr Elliott for his intro­duction to it.

The debate has reached the point where it is unnecessary to repeat everything that has already been said. However, the fact that, two weeks ago, almost halfway through this year, 6% of claims for 2006 were outstanding, is an indication of the problem with single farm payments. Its introduction, in 2005, was more complex in Northern Ireland than it was, for example, in Scotland or Wales. There were good reasons for that, given the mixture of full-time and part-time farms, and land let out and taken in conacre. The Department wanted to ensure the payments were fair, which, unfortunately, introduced some complexity, and, in many cases, area-based issues have created problems. As the Department examines the future of single farm payments, it must consider ways to simplify it and ensure that the payments are dealt with. DARD must prevent fraud, but it is also time that the Department distinguished between fraud and minor clerical errors that are made by people whose full-time employment is not to fill in complex forms but to farm.

The fundamental problem is what the farming community views as a perceived lack of sympathy. That does not come from the individuals who administer policy, because they operate within the rules, but the perception of the gold plating that has been going on for too long must be addressed.

I have heard the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development speak as the Sinn Féin spokesperson on several occasions. She supported the Ulster Farmers' Union (UFU) campaign against red tape. Shortly before the elections in March, representatives from all five parties spoke to UFU members in Cookstown, and there was considerable sympathy for the plight of farmers and the UFU five-point plan. The Minister has been in position for several weeks: she has had the opportunity to familiarise herself with the problems and to sort out what is necessary and unnecessary. She spoke about that issue at the Balmoral Show a couple of weeks ago, and I hope that she will soon have more to tell the House about how she intends to address the problems that she has seen for herself.

The issue is not about the Assembly's passing the motion but rather how the Department responds. I hope that the Minister can inform the House, first, about what is being done to ensure that the issue of the timing of payments is dealt with, and, secondly, how she intends to deal with minor discrepancies such as duplicate fields or land being taken for road-widening schemes that hold up entire payments over issues that amount to no more than 1% or 2% of it. Perhaps part payments should be considered; farmers are already accustomed to receiving part of their wool-clip money in one year, with the remainder being paid the following year. If part payments were made, farmers would know that they would receive at least a proportion of their money on time, even if there were concerns about minor discrepancies.

When will the Minister tell the House that she will act to move Northern Ireland away from the gold-plating culture to ensure that farmers here are treated on equal terms with those in GB, the Republic and the rest of Europe? The fundamental issue is fairness for the people whom Members represent.