Official Report: Minutes of Evidence

The Chairperson (Ms Maeve McLaughlin): Michael and Kathryn, you are very welcome. You are part of the furniture at this stage.

The Committee wants to discuss the proposed amendment in your letter of 1 April. We have discussed the proposed amendment to clause 7 and are generally content with the approach outlined. We note that, in your cover letter, you state that the power will be exercised in the first set of regulations drafted after the legislation comes into operation. We want to drill down to that issue with you, as we would like the proposed amendment to be tied down more firmly. Therefore, the Committee requests that you seek written assurance from the Minister that that will be the case. We seek that assurance before we begin our clause-by-clause scrutiny, which will be next week. On behalf of the Committee, I ask that you pursue the matter with the Department as a matter of urgency. If Committee members are content with that request and have no comments to make, can I get agreement that you will do that?

Mr Michael Jackson (Food Standards Agency Northern Ireland): That is not a problem. We are happy to do that. The Minister was made aware of the proposed amendments and has already agreed to them. It was always our intention that, where regulation-making powers are required to bring any aspect of the scheme into implementation, that would all happen at the same point in time. Therefore, there will be no difficulty in including that as part of the initial regulation process.

The Chairperson (Ms Maeve McLaughlin): OK. Has the Minister already given his approval for the proposed amendment?

Mr Jackson: Yes, he has.

The Chairperson (Ms Maeve McLaughlin): Do you envisage there being no issue with seeking that assurance that it will be activated and that we can turn it around before next week?

Mr Jackson: That should not be a problem.

The Chairperson (Ms Maeve McLaughlin): OK, great. That is all that we needed to hear from you. Thank you for your time.