To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs to outline measures his Department is taking to ensure farmers take steps to mitigate the risk of contracting and spreading Foot and Mouth Disease.

Mr Muir

The emergence of foot-and-mouth disease in Germany is of significant concern not only for our livestock owners but for agriculture sectors across the UK, Ireland and the European Union. I assure Members that my Department has robust contingency plans in place to manage the risk of the disease in order to protect our livestock, farmers and the wider industry. Those were set out in my written ministerial statement to the Assembly on 17 January. On notification of the outbreak in Germany, in a herd of water buffalo in Brandenburg, north of Berlin, my officials immediately carried out a tracing exercise. That was to identify whether any susceptible species, germ plasm or products of animal origin had been imported to Northern Ireland from Germany within an established risk window. To protect Northern Ireland, there are also strict import controls in place restricting the movement of animals and animal products from foot-and-mouth disease-affected areas. That means that all susceptible species and their products from the disease control zones in Germany are restricted from moving to Northern Ireland. The foot-and-mouth disease web page on the DAERA website has also been updated in light of the situation in Germany. The web page contains important information on foot-and-mouth disease, including details on clinical signs and the steps that livestock keepers should take to protect their animals in order to prevent the introduction and spread of this devastating disease. My officials have met industry stakeholders to update them on the situation in Germany and to stress the need for vigilance. Communications reminding livestock keepers of the necessity of adhering to the highest levels of biosecurity are being disseminated regularly by my Department. In addition, veterinary practitioners and livestock keepers have been urged to remain alert to any unusual symptoms and to report them immediately to a veterinarian or directly to DAERA. I urge all Members to continue to play their part in disseminating those key messages.

Mr Muir

This is a matter of concern for me, because it was devastating when it arrived. That is why I have spoken to my colleague across the border, Martin Heydon, and previously to Charlie McConalogue. I have also spoken to the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland and Baroness Hayman from DEFRA. There has been significant engagement on the matter, because we need to work together to keep foot-and-mouth disease out of Northern Ireland. I have a long answer here on the contingency methods, and I will write to the Member about them. To reassure all Members, let me say that we consider this matter to be very serious. My concern is that we abide by the rules on animal movements, and the message has to come very clearly from us all that it is important that we take every step that is necessary to keep foot-and-mouth disease out of Northern Ireland.

Mr Irwin

My question is a bit wider and is about the DAERA application for nitrates. Farmers and form-fillers have brought to my attention today the fact that they cannot access the website for their nitrates application. The deadline is 1 March, and, as yet, they have not been able to access the website. It was supposed to open on 1 January. Will the Minister extend the time frame for getting those applications in?

Mr Muir

That is slightly unrelated to the question, but it is an important issue. I will ask my private office to contact your constituency office today to get a bit more understanding of the issues and see how we can resolve them.

Mr Speaker

We move on to topical questions.