Ulster Unionist Agriculture Spokesperson Jo-Anne Dobson MLA has urged DARD to be cautious in their use of new powers being granted under the Diseases of Animals Order allowing Departmental officials to gain entry to farm properties.
Speaking during this week’s Agriculture and Rural Development Committee at Stormont the Upper Bann MLA described how she had been contacted by farmers who are wary of this power being in the hands of the Department.
She said: “The severe hardship suffered by farmers from the mistakes made by DARD regarding alpha-nortestosterone in 2006 are still very much to the forefront of people’s minds.
“This incident, which was well documented at the time, placed farming families under extreme strain and pressure and has left a legacy of mistrust amongst the agricultural community towards the Department's capability to wield this level of power.
“It should be a guiding principle that with power should come responsibility. Many within the agricultural community are deeply concerned and have many reservations about the level of power which is provided to DARD, enabling them to enter premises, including farm houses, under warrant.
“They remember the raids on farm buildings and homes which were conducted by unforgiving DARD officials, backed up by PSNI and in some cases the Army. What made it all the more painful was that they had done absolutely nothing wrong or illegal.
"Whilst I understand the necessity for DARD to ensure that illegal actions within the agriculture sector are eradicated, they must give a guarantee that these powers will be used only in exceptional cases, given their track history of getting things so wrong.
“The Department of Justice has judicial oversight and so should DARD. There must be an appropriate level of scrutiny to ensure that laws are properly used – these officials exercising these powers must be answerable to the Department and made fully aware of the consequences if they are not exercised properly.
“DARD must adopt a position of presuming people to be innocent of any wrongdoing before assuming guilt and also remember that in many cases long-term damage can be caused to farmers and their families, including the elderly and vulnerable, through misuse of these powers. DARD undoubtedly needs to do more to repair its current reputation in order to become more like the rural champion that it should be.
“I urged that the code of practice, placed before us at the Agriculture Committee, does not act as a rubber stamp for DARD to engage in overstepping the remit of any other Stormont Department.
“The Committee agreed to my proposal to request the full responses to the public consultation which took place between July and October this year, and also the list of all those organisations who DARD have engaged with in their consultation from the Department."