The Ulster Farmers’ Union has described DARD’s confirmation this week that they have failed to reach their target of a 25% reduction in the administrative burden on farmers by 2013 as “unfortunately all too predictable.”
Speaking after the information was made public at the NI Assembly’s Agriculture and Rural Development Committee, UFU President Harry Sinclair said; “DARD are patting themselves on the back when they haven’t even reached the half way mark of their own target. In reality, for farmers this reduction is like a drop in the ocean and very little difference is being felt on the ground.”
In 2007 the UFU launched its “Cut it Out” campaign, with the aim of raising awareness about the excessive administrative burden placed on farmers and to put pressure on DARD to take action to reduce unnecessary red tape and bureaucracy.
Harry Sinclair continued; “By 2007, the administrative burden on farmers was bordering on farcical and we wanted to see it addressed with urgency. However, it was 2009 before the Better Regulation Taskforce released a report with its recommendations for reducing the cost of red tape by £10-15million annually and another year before DARD produced their response. By 2011, DARD were to have reached an interim target of a 15% reduction but had only achieved 4.3% and we knew at this point it was going to be highly unlikely they would reach the 25% target by 2013.
“Six years down the line and a 10.4% reduction is nothing to boast about. Farmers will be disappointed by DARD’s failure to reach the 25% target, but not surprised. There is still a lot to be done and the UFU will continue to pursue this.”
