Farren Attacks Bureaucratic Madness Affecting Farming

Speaking in the Assembly on Monday on a motion calling for the elimination of red tape in farming North Antrim MLA Seán Farren said:

“There is a bureaucratic madness affecting farming. The farming industry is being over-governed and over-burdened with excessive red tape.

Of course care must be exercised in administering payments which amount to more than £300 million to farm businesses each year but it is not in the interests of the industry, to impose needless bureaucracy.

But why should a farmer fill out an 11-page application form in order to shift top soil from one field to another?

Why must a farmer apply to DoE for a written exemption before using rubble as a foundation for a farm building or laneway?

Why should the sheep sector must comply with a complicated animal identification system which rivals Joseph’s technicolour dream coat with its red, blue and green tags.

Farmers making minor errors on the annual application for the Single Farm Payment, have in several cases been financially penalised by tens of thousands of pounds.

Everyone agrees that all farmers accept the need for a responsible approach to how waste is handled but not a complicated and bureaucratic system of exemptions and licenses.

On the farm waste issue the Ulster Farmers’ Union have received word from the European Union that one of the most controversial DOE schemes is in fact overly bureaucratic. The requirement for individual farm registrations for exemptions from EU farm waste rules is not necessary.

Instead generic registration for the entire industry is acceptable to the EU Commission. Why can this not be the norm here?

In conclusion Mr Farren said: “What we need is a flexible approach to the need for farmers not just to abide by regulations that are for the good of their industry, for the good of the countryside, and for the good of the public, but to show that they are doing so in ways that are not costly and frustrating.” ends