To ask the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, pursuant to AQW 44518/11-15, to detail the changes which have been made to the membership and terms of reference of the 2007-13 Monitoring Committee.

Membership of the Rural Development Programme Monitoring Committee is specified in EU Regulation and must include public authorities, economic and social partners, environmental partners, non-governmental organisations, and bodies responsible for promoting social inclusion, gender equality and non-discrimination.

A Programme Monitoring Committee was established under these principles in 2007 for the 2007-2013 Rural Development Programme. As the regulatory requirements have now changed, membership of the Programme Monitoring Committee was reviewed to ensure it was fit for purpose.

To ensure continuity between Programmes, the organisations which are represented on the current Monitoring Committee were invited to continue their role. All the current members opted to continue and additional representation was invited from a number of other organisations, including members of the RDP Stakeholder Consultation Group. Five new organisations accepted the invitation; these were the Agri-Food Strategy Board, Invest NI, NI Tourist Board, NI Environment Agency and the Gaelic Athletic Association.

The terms of reference of the Programme Monitoring Committee have been revised to reflect the requirements of Article 78 of Regulation (EU) No. 1698/2006, Article 49 of Regulation (EU) No. 1303/2013 and Article 74 of Regulation (EU) No. 1305/2013.