To ask the Minister for the Economy what discussions he has had with (i) the Ulster Farmers Union; and (ii) other representative bodies with regard to the impacts of agriculture production on respiratory health.

The Health and Safety Executive for Northern Ireland (HSENI) has accepted transfer of this question from DAERA as HSENI lead on issues relating to occupational health.

The Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs (DAERA), along with HSENI have jointly worked with the members of the Farm Safety Partnership (FSP) to develop a strategy to introduce issues of farmers’ occupational health including respiratory health into the latest Farm Safety Partnership action plan.

The Partnership is made up of the key representative bodies within Farming in Northern Ireland and includes The Ulster Farmers Union (UFU), the Northern Irish Agricultural Producers Association (NIAPA), the Young Farmers Clubs of Ulster (YFCU), The National Farmers Union (NFU) Mutual and the Farm Safety Foundation along with DAERA and HSENI.

This has resulted in the inclusion of farmers’ occupational health (including respiratory heath) in the latest FSP Action Plan.