Mr Patsy McGlone (Mid Ulster): To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs for a breakdown of (i) all COVID-19 resources bids made by his Department; and (ii) allocations received by his Department.
Minister of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs: In March, a £105m support package was submitted to the Department of Finance (DoF) which has since been reviewed and refined. The bid is now classified as a “Marker bid” and a new substantive Support for Farming Sector – Market Intervention Resource DEL Bid of £107.5m was submitted to DoF on 6 May. Bids were also submitted for Waste, which was subsequently reduced from £16.7m to £5.0m, £1.5m for Support to the Fishing Sector, £1.3m for AFBI COVID-19 Testing Kits and £1.0m for Rural Affairs.
Following an internal review of COVID-19 requirements and allocations by the Executive, a residual bid of £81.5m for Market Interventions for the Agri-Food sector was confirmed to DoF on 5 June.
The Executive has allocated £25m Resource DEL for Market Interventions in the Agri-Food Sector, £3.8m for Waste and £1.5m for Support to the Fishing Sector.
ENDS
Your MLA 