The Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs (DAERA) is a government department in the Northern Ireland Executive, the devolved administration for Northern Ireland. The minister with overall responsibility for the department is the Minister of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs. The department was called the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development between 1999 and 2016. The Minister of Agriculture previously existed in the Government of Northern Ireland (1921–1972), where the department was known as the Department of Agriculture for Northern Ireland or the Ministry of Agriculture. The current Permanent Secretary is Denis McMahon.[3]
Responsibility
The department has responsibility for food, farming, environmental, fisheries, forestry and sustainability policy, and the development of the rural sector in Northern Ireland. It assists in the sustainable development of the agri-food, environmental, fishing and forestry sectors of the economy (having regard for the needs of the consumers, the protection of human, animal and plant health, the welfare of animals and the conservation and enhancement of the environment). It provides a business development service, a veterinary service and the College of Agriculture, Food and Rural Enterprise, and is responsible to the UK Government's Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) for the administration of schemes affecting the whole of the United Kingdom and also oversees the application of European Union agricultural, environmental, fisheries and rural development policy to Northern Ireland.[4] Its main counterpart in the Republic of Ireland is the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine.
The department has two executive agencies – the Northern Ireland Environment Agency and the Forest Service – and also sponsors five non-departmental public bodies – the Agri-Food and Biosciences Institute, the Agricultural Wages Board for Northern Ireland, the Livestock and Meat Commission for Northern Ireland, the Northern Ireland Fishery Harbour Authority, and the Drainage Council for Northern Ireland.[5] The department's name is often abbreviated to DAERA and the following abbreviations are also used when describing and reporting on its responsibilities:
AFBI – Agri-Food and Biosciences Institute
AWB – Agricultural Wages Board for Northern Ireland
CAFRE – College of Agriculture, Food and Rural Enterprise
DARD – its main predecessor (the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development)
DCAL – previous department (Department of Culture, Arts and Leisure)
Defra – Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (UK)
DoE – previous department (Department of the Environment)
LMC – Livestock and Meat Commission for Northern Ireland
DAERA is anecdotally known as the Department of Agriculture by many farmers and members of the public. Agriculture (and agricultural subsidies) has a more significant in the Northern Ireland economy than in the overall UK economy; the structure of agriculture is more similar to the sector in the Republic of Ireland. The future of agriculture is a major local issue in Brexit.[6]
History
Dundonald House, headquarters of DAERA.
As with the governance of Northern Ireland more generally, the history of the department and its predecessors can be divided into the following main periods:
The Department of Agriculture and Technical Instruction (DATI), established by Horace Plunkett was responsible for agricultural policy for the whole island of Ireland under the Dublin Castle administration from 1899 onwards. A separate Ministry of Agriculture was established at the foundation of Northern Ireland in 1921, with Sir Edward Archdale as its initial minister. The last Act of the Parliament of Northern Ireland was the Agriculture (Abolition of County Committees) Act (Northern Ireland) 1972, which received royal assent on 28 March 1972.
The Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs (DAERA) was established in May 2016, following a reduction in the number of government departments under the Fresh Start Agreement. The main changes relating to its remit were as follows:
the new department inherited the main functions of the former Department of Agriculture and Rural Development
environmental regulation was transferred into its remit from the former Department of the Environment
the Rivers Agency (responsible for rivers and flooding policy) was transferred to the new Department for Infrastructure
inland fisheries was transferred back from DCAL (which had received that responsibility in 1999)
DCAL was dissolved and inland waterways was transferred to the new Department for Communities[15]
Devolution continued until all ministerial offices were vacated on 26 January 2017, due to a political dispute between the Democratic Unionist Party and Sinn Féin.
Ministers
Eight Ministers of Agriculture held office between 1921 and 1972, starting with Sir Edward Archdale and concluding with Harry West. During direct rule, ministers of the Northern Ireland Office were responsible for the department, including Lord Rooker and David Cairns. The following table indicates Ministers of Agriculture and Rural Development (between 1999 and 2016 inclusive) and the subsequent Minister of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs.
This represented a reduction from £209.8 million in the baseline budget i.e. the amount allocated for the work carried out by the previous departments with those responsibilities.
A further £48.8 million was allocated as capital expenditure:
£18.3 million for European programmes and agricultural education
£11.6 million for animal welfare, agri-food, research and fisheries
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