Committee for Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs

The Committee for Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs was established in Northern Ireland to advise and assist the Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs and the Minister for Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs (currently Andrew Muir), on matters within his responsibility as a Minister. The committee undertakes a scrutiny, policy development and consultation role with respect to the Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs and plays a key role in the consideration and development of legislation.^[1]

Until 2016, the committee was called the Committee for Agriculture and Rural Development.

Membership

Membership of the committee is as follows:

Party		Member[2]	Constituency
	UUP	Robbie Butler MLA (Chairperson)	Lagan Valley
	Sinn Féin	Declan McAleer MLA (Deputy Chairperson)	West Tyrone
	Alliance	John Blair MLA	South Antrim
	DUP	Tom Buchanan MLA	West Tyrone
	Sinn Féin	Aoife Finnegan MLA	Newry and Armagh
	DUP	William Irwin MLA	Newry and Armagh
	SDLP	Daniel McCrossan MLA	West Tyrone
	DUP	Michelle McIlveen MLA	Strangford
	Sinn Féin	Áine Murphy MLA	Fermanagh and South Tyrone

2022–2027 Assembly

The committee will meet for the first time in the 2022–2027 Assembly on 14 February 2024.

Party		Member[3]	Constituency
	UUP	Tom Elliott MLA (Chairperson)	Fermanagh and South Tyrone
	Sinn Féin	Declan McAleer MLA (Deputy Chairperson)	West Tyrone
	Alliance	John Blair MLA	South Antrim
	Sinn Féin	Nicola Brogan MLA	West Tyrone
	DUP	Tom Buchanan MLA	West Tyrone
	DUP	William Irwin MLA	Newry and Armagh
	SDLP	Patsy McGlone MLA	Mid Ulster
	DUP	Michelle McIlveen MLA	Strangford
	Sinn Féin	Áine Murphy MLA	Fermanagh and South Tyrone

Changes 2022–2027

Date	Outgoing member and party		Constituency	→	New member and party		Constituency
30 September 2024		Tom Elliott MLA (Chairperson, UUP)	Fermanagh and South Tyrone	→		Robbie Butler MLA (Chairperson, UUP)	Lagan Valley
17 February 2025		Nicola Brogan MLA (Sinn Féin)	West Tyrone	→		Aoife Finnegan MLA (Sinn Féin)	Newry and Armagh
8 September 2025		Patsy McGlone MLA (SDLP)	Mid Ulster	→		Daniel McCrossan MLA (SDLP)	West Tyrone

2017-2022 Assembly

The committee met for the first time in the 2017–2022 Assembly on 21 January 2020.

Party		Member[4]	Constituency
	Sinn Féin	Declan McAleer MLA (Chairperson)	West Tyrone
	Sinn Féin	Philip McGuigan MLA (Deputy Chairperson)	North Antrim
	Green (NI)	Clare Bailey MLA	Belfast South
	UUP	Rosemary Barton MLA	Fermanagh and South Tyrone
	Alliance	John Blair MLA	South Antrim
	DUP	Maurice Bradley MLA	East Londonderry
	SDLP	John Dallat MLA	East Londonderry
	DUP	Harry Harvey MLA	Strangford
	DUP	William Irwin MLA	Newry and Armagh

Changes 2017–2022

Date	Outgoing member and party		Constituency	→	New member and party		Constituency
9 March 2020		John Dallat MLA (SDLP)	East Londonderry	→		Pat Catney MLA (SDLP)	Lagan Valley
26 May 2020		Pat Catney MLA (SDLP)	Lagan Valley	→		Patsy McGlone MLA (SDLP)	Mid Ulster
20 September 2021		Maurice Bradley MLA (DUP)	East Londonderry	→		Tom Buchanan MLA (DUP)	West Tyrone

2016-2017 Assembly

The committee met for the first time in the 2016–2017 Assembly on 2 June 2016.

Party		Member[5]	Constituency
	Sinn Féin	Linda Dillon MLA (Chairperson)	Mid Ulster
	Sinn Féin	Caoimhe Archibald MLA (Deputy Chairperson)	East Londonderry
	DUP	Sydney Anderson MLA	Upper Bann
	DUP	Maurice Bradley MLA	East Londonderry
	Alliance	David Ford MLA	South Antrim
	DUP	William Irwin MLA	Newry and Armagh
	SDLP	Patsy McGlone MLA	Mid Ulster
	UUP	Harold McKee MLA	South Down
	Sinn Féin	Oliver McMullan MLA	East Antrim
	DUP	Edwin Poots MLA	Lagan Valley
	UUP	Robin Swann MLA	North Antrim

Changes 2016–2017

Date	Outgoing member and party		Constituency	→	New member and party		Constituency
2 December 2016		Linda Dillon MLA (Chairperson, Sinn Féin)	Mid Ulster	→		Caoimhe Archibald MLA (Chairperson, Sinn Féin)	East Londonderry
2 December 2016		Caoimhe Archibald MLA (Deputy Chairperson, Sinn Féin)	East Londonderry	→		Oliver McMullan MLA (Deputy Chairperson, Sinn Féin)	East Antrim

2011-2016 Assembly

The committee met for the first time in the 2016–2017 Assembly in May 2011.

Party		Member[6]	Constituency
	DUP	Paul Frew MLA (Chairperson)	North Antrim
	SDLP	Dolores Kelly MLA (Deputy Chairperson)	Upper Bann
	DUP	Tom Buchanan MLA	West Tyrone
	DUP	Trevor Clarke MLA	South Antrim
	Sinn Féin	Willie Clarke MLA	South Down
	UUP	Jo-Anne Dobson MLA	Upper Bann
	DUP	William Irwin MLA	Newry and Armagh
	Sinn Féin	Oliver McMullan MLA	East Antrim
	Alliance	Kieran McCarthy MLA	Strangford
	Sinn Féin	Conor Murphy MLA	Newry and Armagh
	UUP	Robin Swann MLA	North Antrim

Changes 2011–2016

Date	Outgoing member and party		Constituency	→	New member and party		Constituency
23 January 2012		Conor Murphy MLA (Sinn Féin)	Newry and Armagh	→		Michaela Boyle MLA (Sinn Féin)	West Tyrone
17 April 2012		Willie Clarke MLA (Sinn Féin)	South Down	→	Vacant
8 May 2012	Vacant			→		Chris Hazzard MLA (Sinn Féin)	South Down
21 May 2012		Dolores Kelly MLA (Deputy Chairperson, SDLP)	Upper Bann	→		Joe Byrne MLA (Deputy Chairperson, SDLP)	West Tyrone
10 September 2012		Michaela Boyle MLA (Sinn Féin)	West Tyrone	→		Declan McAleer MLA (Sinn Féin)	West Tyrone
4 December 2012		Robin Swann MLA (UUP)	North Antrim	→		Danny Kinahan MLA (UUP)	South Antrim
21 January 2013		Danny Kinahan MLA (UUP)	South Antrim	→		Robin Swann MLA (UUP)	North Antrim
15 April 2013		Chris Hazzard MLA (Sinn Féin)	South Down	→		Ian Milne MLA (Sinn Féin)	Mid Ulster
16 September 2013		Trevor Clarke MLA (DUP)	South Antrim	→		Michelle McIlveen MLA (DUP)	Strangford
1 October 2013		Kieran McCarthy MLA (Alliance)	Strangford	→		Trevor Lunn MLA (Alliance)	Lagan Valley
27 January 2014		Trevor Lunn MLA (Alliance)	Lagan Valley	→		Judith Cochrane MLA (Alliance)	Belfast East
4 July 2014		Robin Swann MLA (UUP)	North Antrim	→		Tom Elliott MLA (UUP)	Fermanagh and South Tyrone
24 September 2014		Paul Frew MLA (Chairperson, DUP)	North Antrim	→		William Irwin MLA (Chairperson, DUP)	Newry and Armagh
29 September 2014		Judith Cochrane MLA (Alliance)	Belfast East	→		Kieran McCarthy MLA (Alliance)	Strangford
6 October 2014		Paul Frew MLA (DUP)	North Antrim	→		Sydney Anderson MLA (DUP)	Upper Bann
		Michelle McIlveen MLA (DUP)	Strangford			Edwin Poots MLA (DUP)	Lagan Valley
30 June 2015		Tom Elliott MLA (UUP)	Fermanagh and South Tyrone	→		Robin Swann MLA (UUP)	North Antrim
5 October 2015		Tom Buchanan MLA (DUP)	North Antrim	→		Ian McCrea MLA (DUP)	Mid Ulster
11 January 2016		Joe Byrne MLA (Deputy Chairperson, SDLP)	West Tyrone	→		Seán Rogers MLA (Deputy Chairperson, SDLP)	South Down

2007-2011 Assembly

The committee met for the first time in the 2016–2017 Assembly in May 2007.

Party		Member[7]	Constituency
	DUP	William McCrea MLA (Chairperson)	South Antrim
	UUP	Tom Elliott MLA (Deputy Chairperson)	Fermanagh and South Tyrone
	SDLP	P. J. Bradley MLA	South Down
	DUP	Allan Bresland MLA	West Tyrone
	SDLP	Thomas Burns MLA	South Antrim
	DUP	Trevor Clarke MLA	South Antrim
	Sinn Féin	Willie Clarke MLA	South Down
	Sinn Féin	Gerry McHugh MLA	Fermanagh and South Tyrone
	DUP	William Irwin MLA	Newry and Armagh
	Sinn Féin	Francie Molloy MLA	Mid Ulster
	UUP	George Savage MLA	Upper Bann

Changes 2007-2011

Date	Outgoing member and party		Constituency	→	New member and party		Constituency
21 January 2008		Gerry McHugh MLA (Sinn Féin)	Fermanagh and South Tyrone	→		Pat Doherty MLA (Sinn Féin)	West Tyrone
14 September 2008		Allan Bresland MLA (DUP)	West Tyrone	→		Edwin Poots MLA (DUP)	Lagan Valley
28 May 2009		P. J. Bradley MLA (SDLP)	South Down	→		Patsy McGlone MLA (SDLP)	Mid Ulster
4 July 2007		Trevor Clarke MLA (DUP)	South Antrim	→		Ian Paisley Jr MLA (DUP)	North Antrim
		Edwin Poots MLA (DUP)	Lagan Valley			Jim Shannon MLA (DUP)	Strangford
4 July 2009		William McCrea MLA (Chairperson, DUP)	South Antrim	→		Ian Paisley Jr MLA (Chairperson, DUP)	North Antrim
9 March 2010		Patsy McGlone MLA (SDLP)	Mid Ulster	→		P. J. Bradley MLA (SDLP)	South Down
14 April 2010		Thomas Burns MLA (SDLP)	South Antrim	→		Kieran McCarthy MLA (Alliance)	Strangford
23 June 2010		Ian Paisley Jr MLA (Chairperson, DUP)	North Antrim	→		Stephen Moutray MLA (Chairperson, DUP)	Upper Bann
1 July 2010		William McCrea MLA (DUP)	South Antrim	→	Vacant
3 August 2010		Jim Shannon MLA (DUP)	Strangford	→	Vacant
14 September 2010	Vacant			→		Trevor Clarke MLA (DUP)	South Antrim
	Vacant					Simpson Gibson MLA (DUP)	Strangford
6 October 2010		Tom Elliott MLA (Deputy Chairperson, UUP)	Fermanagh and South Tyrone	→		Roy Beggs Jr MLA (Chairperson, UUP)	East Antrim

1998-2003 Assembly

The committee met for the first time in the 2016–2017 Assembly in November 1999.

Party		Member[8]	Constituency
	DUP	Ian Paisley MLA (Chairperson)	North Antrim
	UUP	Billy Armstrong MLA	Mid Ulster
	SDLP	P. J. Bradley MLA	South Down
	Ind. Unionist	Boyd Douglas MLA	East Londonderry
	Alliance	David Ford MLA	South Antrim
	SDLP	Denis Haughey MLA	Mid Ulster
	DUP	Gardiner Kane MLA	North Antrim
	DUP	Ian Paisley Jr MLA	North Antrim
	Sinn Féin	Francie Molloy MLA	Mid Ulster
	UUP	George Savage MLA	Upper Bann

Changes 1998-2003

Date	Outgoing member and party		Constituency	→	New member and party		Constituency
24 January 2000		Denis Haughey MLA (SDLP)	Mid Ulster	→		John Dallat MLA (SDLP)	East Londonderry
4 February 2002		Francie Molloy MLA (Sinn Féin)	Mid Ulster	→		Mick Murphy MLA (Sinn Féin)	South Down
1 July 2002		Mick Murphy MLA (Sinn Féin)	South Down	→		Pat Doherty MLA (Sinn Féin)	West Tyrone

See also

• Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs