Allister slams Executive over Crossnacreevy blunder
10 June 2008
Jim Allister MEP has said the tax-paying public will demand answers, in response to revelations that an Executive blunder over the proposed sale of DARD owned land could cost the public purse up to £200 million.
Jim Allister said,
“The land in question lies within the greenbelt area, which was indeed the case when Michelle Gildernew made her announcement to dispose of the Crossnacreevy site on 12th June last year, thus making the contention that it was ever worth 200M. a non-starter. While there was a powerful case for an extra £90 million to be secured to fund the Farm Nutrient Management Scheme, the basis on which funds were given by way of an advance by DFP to DARD, in expectation of realising full development prices quoted at £200 million has been confirmed as seriously flawed. DARD should never have got into such a trade-off. Its case for FNMS funds was unanswerable, without the need for selling the family silver, with or without inflating the price.”
“Many questions remain unanswered as a result of this major blunder: firstly, will the World class research facility at Crossnacreevy continue to be sold, albeit at a much reduced £6 million guide price? Such would be utter folly and now without any financial justification. Will projects now fall by the wayside as a result of a much reduced Government pot? Will DFP seek to claw back the additional £90 million funds through some other means, if the disposal of Crossnacreevy is now deemed to be insufficient, inflicting further damage on the agricultural budget and sector?”
“The decision to sell off public assets at Crossnacreevy was wrong and foolhardy from the outset. Undoubtedly this ham-fisted debacle exposes the lack of care taken by both DARD and DFP. I have written to both Departments raising my utmost concerns at what appears to be nothing less than negligence on the part of Government discharging its functions.”
ENDS
