Commenting on the Answer below from DARD TUV Leader Jim Allister said:-
“It is noticeable how anxious the minister is to divert attention from the indisputable fact that these are her cuts, by talking about ‘the Tory Government’s ideologically driven assault on the Executive’s block grant’. Dress it up as she tries, it is the Sinn Fein minister who is wielding the axe against this Greenmount service to farmers. She needn’t try to shift the blame when she has supported the siphoning off of £564m from the block grant to guarantee extra welfare benefits and has herself overseen millions of squander of rural development funding on the GAA. It is her priorities which are withdrawing services from farmers and threatening vital research facilities at Crossnaceevy.
“Sadly, in the minister’s Sinn Fein agenda propping up welfare payments is more important than essential services. Hence, her assault on these services and the 300 staff she is content to put out of work.
“It’s time the minister re-order her priorities towards saving, not destroying jobs.”
Mr Allister’s question and the Minister’s response was as follows:
To ask the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development why training courses for farmers are being withdrawn at Greenmount College; and which courses are affected.
As part of the Tory Government’s ideologically driven assault on the Executive’s block grant, DARD is required to achieve savings of 15.1% or £29.9m in the 15/16 budget. As over 50% of the DARD budget relates to staff costs, part of the Department’s savings plan will involve a reduction of around 300 posts by September 2015. These reductions are being delivered across the Department, including in the College of Agriculture, Food and Rural Enterprise (CAFRE). Training courses for farmers are being withdrawn as part of CAFRE’s savings.
The main courses at Greenmount Campus which are affected are Safe Use of Pesticides; Tractor Driving; Telehandler Operations and All Terrain Vehicle Driving. A number of other courses are also affected, such as those regulated by Animal Medicines Training Regulatory Authority; Integrated Pollution Prevention Control Training; First Aid; Transport of Animals and BASIS / FACTS training for people working with pesticides and fertiliser respectively.