Ulster Unionist agriculture spokesperson and Chair of the Stormont AERA Committee, Robbie Butler MLA, has cautiously welcomed the revised Nutrients Action Programme (NAP) published for consultation, while making clear that responsibility for delivering it now rests squarely with Minister Muir.

Robbie Butler said:

"A year ago, I called for the original NAP consultation to be withdrawn. Those proposals were rushed, poorly evidenced and undeliverable, with independent analysis commissioned by the Ulster Farmers' Union putting their cost at over £1.56 billion a year. I argued then that farmers had to be partners, not passengers, and that real change could only come through co-design. That is exactly what this independently chaired stakeholder process has delivered, and I pay tribute to the UFU and every organisation that did the hard work.

"We should not forget the backdrop to this. These proposals landed at the very moment the Ulster Farmers' Union passed an unprecedented vote of no confidence in Minister Muir's department, and as the Labour Government's family farm tax was piling further pressure on farm families. Trust between farmers, the department and government had reached rock bottom. That is why this revised programme matters. It is the step forward that everyone, on all sides, badly needs.

"Many of the most damaging measures have been removed or rewritten. We have moved from blunt, universal rules to a targeted, phased and workable approach. As the Union itself says, it is not perfect, but it is a world away from where we started.

"This is not the finish line, however, and farmers must not be left to carry it alone. The report is clear that agriculture is only one source of the problem. Northern Ireland Water, wastewater, septic tanks and industry must face the same urgency that has been demanded of farming.

"Just as importantly, much of this package cannot be delivered without the Minister playing his part. The headline target to cut the phosphorus surplus depends on building manure processing and export infrastructure that does not yet exist at scale. The expansion of low-emission slurry equipment depends on proper funding through the Sustainable Farming Investment Scheme. The whole programme is also conditional on real progress on ammonia policy and on unblocking a planning system that is holding back farm investment. Farmers cannot be held to targets they have no means of meeting. This is his programme to deliver, and the responsibility for getting it right sits with him.

"The Department must publish the economic impact assessment in full, so that farmers can see exactly what these revised measures will mean for their businesses. Where measures are to be reviewed after two years, farmers need certainty and support behind them, not the threat of tougher regulation hanging over the industry like a cliff-edge.

"The Ulster Unionist Party will engage with stakeholders and industry to scrutinise these proposals in detail, safeguarding both the agri-food sector and our environment."