Budget Announcements won’t ease Agricultural Worries - Elliott
Fermanagh and South Tyrone MLA Tom Elliott has said that the Draft budget allocation to the Department of Agriculture is going to make 2008 a very hard year for the industry.
The deputy-chair of the agricultural committee said: “Following discussions concerning the amount of money needed to finance the Department of Agriculture, a bid was tabled with the Department of Finance and Personnel for approximately 32 million pounds for resource funding in the coming year. What the department have been allocated is 14.6 million pounds, 17.3 million pounds or almost 60% less than bid for. This fact means that 2008 is not looking great for the agricultural industry and that we have to work extra hard to try and promote our sector because of the lack of funding.”
Figures released showing the bids by the Department of Agriculture to the Department of Finance and Personnel for the next 3 years note that while 2008 is set to be a lean year in terms of funding for the sector, the following years in 2009 and 2010 the situation should improve. Draft proposals indicate that in 2009 the proposed amount given to the industry for resource funding will increase to 25 million pounds and in 2010 rise once again to 37.7 million pounds. However, while Mr Elliott looks forward to these increases he is keeping his mind firmly concentrated on the current situation.
The Ulster Unionist MLA went on to state: “I am happy to see that there will be increases in money made available in the coming years. However, away from the dreams for 2009 and 2010 there is very serious matter arriving over the coming months. The money that has been allocated for 2008 is not even enough to cover the ‘Inescapable Bids’, things that are vital to the maintenance of the sector, and so there will definitely be losses in parts of the industry and a number of families will suffer because of this.
“The amount needed for the ‘Inescapable Bids’ was just over 18 million pounds. The 14.6 million pounds made available comes nowhere close to meeting that. As this is a draft budget I would encourage this Minister for Finance and Personnel, Peter Robinson, to rethink the amount stipulated for the Department of Agriculture this coming year. Agriculture remains one of the largest areas of employment in Northern Ireland and so for it not even to have enough money allocated to maintain a basic standard of upkeep is a recipe for disaster.”