The case for reinstating the Areas of Natural Constraint (ANC) payment was made to Stormont’s agriculture committee on Monday by West Tyrone MLA Declan McAleer.

The Sinn Féin politician is trying to put a private members bill through the NI Assembly which aims to set a “legal framework” for the ANC scheme to be restarted.

“Reinstating the ANC is about maintaining the livestock sector, encouraging biodiversity and sustaining rural communities,” McAleer told MLAs.

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During Monday’s briefing, McAleer said that allocating a budget for the scheme would not happen until after the next Assembly election in May 2027.

“This bill is about setting the legal framework for the ANC. It is going to be a separate process sorting out the financing of it.

“When financing becomes available, we want to have the legal framework so there’s no delay paying that out to farmers,” he said.

There was limited discussion about funding options for the £11.4m scheme during the meeting, although McAleer said ANC payments should not be funded by cuts to the Farm Sustainability Payment (FSP).

“I would certainly be of the view that this would have to be come from somewhere other than the current [FSP] pot,” he said.

Payment rates

The proposed bill requires DAERA to re-start ANC payments at levels which are not lower than the last year of the scheme which ran in 2018.

Back then, ANC payment rates were set at £26.57/ha for the first 200ha of severely disadvantaged area (SDA) land, with £19.93/ha thereafter.

McAleer acknowledged that his proposed ANC payment rates are much lower than the existing ANC scheme in the Republic of Ireland where up to €148/ha is available.

“The quantum in the south is vastly more than what is been proposed here, but I think from our perspective, this is a step in the right direction,” he said.

McAleer said his bill was intentionally kept “very narrow and very defined” to help get a quick passage through the Assembly before next year’s election.

It remains to be seen how much support the proposals have from other political parties at Stormont. A formal debate is expected to take place next week.