The Committee for Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs is one of nine statutory committees at Stormont, each shadowing a single Executive department. It scrutinises the work of the Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs (DAERA) and its minister, examining policy, expenditure and administration, and considers relevant legislation in detail during a bill’s Committee Stage.
Statutory committees advise and assist their department’s minister in developing policy, can launch their own inquiries, and must approve or reject certain secondary legislation before it takes effect. This gives them influence over departmental business beyond formal bill scrutiny alone.
Who sits on it
The committee is chaired by Robbie Butler (Ulster Unionist Party), with Declan McAleer (Sinn Féin) as deputy chair. See the full nine-member roster on the committee’s page.
Bills before it
Three bills fall under the committee’s scrutiny, at various stages of the legislative process:
- Agriculture Bill — passed, Royal Assent
- Dilapidation Bill — Further Consideration Stage
- Fisheries, Aquaculture and Water Environment Bill — Committee Stage
Data sources
Membership, chair and bill-stage data are drawn from the NI Assembly’s official committee and legislation records, kept up to date by the weekly Assembly sync.
See the committee’s full roster and remit at mlas.news/committee/committee-for-agriculture-environment-and-rural-affairs/.