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52Nd MEETING of the FOYLE CARLINGFORD and IRISH LIGHTS COMMISSION

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52Nd MEETING of the FOYLE CARLINGFORD and IRISH LIGHTS COMMISSION 84th MEETING OF THE FOYLE CARLINGFORD AND IRISH LIGHTS COMMISSION Wednesday 4th December 2013 10:45 am Redcastle Hotel, Inishowen Peninsula, Moville, Co Donegal Attendees Present Winston Patterson (Chairman) Donal Tipping Phil Mahon Michael McCormick Seamus Rodgers Joe Miller Andrew Duncan Jim Wilson Mick Murphy In Attendance - Loughs Agency John Pollock – Acting Chief Executive Officer John McCartney – Director of Conservation and Protection Barry Fox – Director of Aquaculture and Shellfisheries Kevin Wilson – Director of Development Siobhan Wilson (Minutes) Winston Patterson welcomed Colette Kane from the Northern Ireland Audit Office. Colette gave a presentation to the Board on Good Practice in Risk Management. 1. Welcome and Apologies Winston accepted apologies from:- Alan McCulla (Vice Chair) Laurence Arbuckle Theresa McLaverty Winston Patterson welcomed everyone to the meeting. Winston extended his and the Board’s sympathies to Jim Wilson on the death of his mother. Jim Wilson thanked everyone who made telephone calls, sent messages and cards and who attended at the funeral. Prepared by S Wilson Nov ’13 Page 1 2. Conflict of Interest There were no conflicts of interest with any agenda items. 3. Minutes of the Previous Meeting The minutes of the previous meeting were agreed as an accurate record. Proposed Seamus Rodgers Seconded Michael McCormick 4. Reserved Minutes The reserved minutes were noted and agreed. Proposed Phil Mahon Seconded Seamus Rodgers 5. Matters Arising Winston Patterson advised the Board on the update in relation to the current vacant position of CEO. He confirmed that the Public Appointments Office in Dublin would be looking after the recruitment competition. He added that the advertisement would be in the press and online by the end of week commencing 9th December 2013. He further added that the interviews would be held in the New Year by a panel consisting of representatives from DARD, DCENR and himself. 6. CEO Report John Pollock, Acting CEO provided the Board with the following report: John advised that Kevin and himself attended the Turner Prize Award Ceremony and he was pleased to report that there were a lot of enquires from attendees in relation to the Lough Foyle Oysters which would reflect the effort that the Agency had put into promoting and marketing of the oysters, further efforts would be made to build on this positive publicity. Prepared by S Wilson Nov ’13 Page 2 John informed the meeting that the next NSMC Sectoral Meeting is planned for February 2014, date and venue to be confirmed. John added that the both finance departments had now agreed the scheme rule change to the Foyle Fisheries Pension Scheme to make provision for Public Sector transfer. This amendment will be brought to the next NSMC Sectoral Meeting in February 2014. Phil Mahon noted the late production of papers for the meeting due to reports not being received on time from Directors. She requested that all future papers are provided for the Board Members at least one week prior to the meeting. Joe Miller agreed with Phil and they both advised that they felt unprepared for the meeting. 7. Directors Reports Corporate Services John Pollock, Acting CEO provided the Board with the following report: Internal and External Audit Work on the recent Internal Audit recommendations is now complete and a satisfactory rating has now been issued on outstanding recommendation is the review of the Financial Memorandum which is out of the control of the Agency and currently with both Finance Departments since 2010. External Audit commenced their audit on the draft 2012 Financial Statements in March and is nearing completion. Their management points when available will be brought forward to a future Audit Sub Committee / Board Meeting. The C&Ags office in the South have to review the financial statements before final sign off it is anticipated all will be finalised by the end of December 2013. North South Ministerial Council The next North South Ministerial Council Sectoral meeting is planned for February 2014. 2012 Annual Report The draft report has been cleared by both Sponsor Departments and was noted by Ministers at the recent NSMC meeting on 23rd Prepared by S Wilson Nov ’13 Page 3 October 2013 this will now go forward for translation and final print together with the 2102 financial statements when they are signed off. Staffing There is currently only 1 vacancy – CEO Post Advisory Forum The next plenary Forum meeting is scheduled for March/April 2014 and focus group meetings will continue to meet over the next few months. Corporate Plan 2014-16 and Business Plan 2014 The guidance was received on 11th September from the Departments of Finance on format and budget availability. Further efficiency cuts have been imposed of 4% per annum cumulating in 12% in 2016. The Agency has initiated the drafting of the plans and will bring forward drafts to the Board when available. Review of Financial Memorandum No further progress to report on this issue. The review of the Financial Memorandum was initiated in 2010. The Agency still awaits formal notification from the Departments of Finance. Sponsor Departments have agreed an interim amendment to the tendering thresholds to mirror those of the Departments and Central Procurement Directorate pending word from the Finance Departments. This issue is regularly raised by Internal and External Audits and is beyond the control of the Agency. Amendment to the Foyle Fisheries Pension Scheme The Agency has drafted an amendment to the current pension scheme to allow the scheme to recognise incoming service from other public sector pension schemes. The Departments of Finance have set out a road map of the sequence of the necessary approvals and it is hoped that this amendment will receive final NSMC Ministers approval by December 2013 North South Pension Update The Economic Appraisal on the Agency joining the N/S Pension Scheme has been cleared by both Sponsor Departments and is currently been considered by both Finance Departments. The Agency has been in correspondence with its sponsor departments and are advised that the Finance Departments have been in discussion on the implications surrounding staff salaries and Prepared by S Wilson Nov ’13 Page 4 grading. The Agency has again been advised of the road map for the necessary approvals and is working on these with a view to finalising this issue in early 2014. Aquaculture and Shellfisheries Barry Fox, Director of Aquaculture and Shellfisheries provided the Board with the following report: Shellfish Hygiene Policy and Procedure As a result of multiple changes to protocol dictated by the sampling authorities and additional sampling sites there have been a number of incidents in the past few months where sampling protocol has not been adequately followed. In response Sarah McLean created an in-house Policy and Procedure for Shellfish Hygiene sampling. The document outlines all standard operating procedures with regards to shellfish hygiene sampling. Both the Carlingford and Foyle crews were shown the document and given additional training on shellfish hygiene sampling. The Carlingford crew were briefed on the policy on 24.10.13 and the Foyle crew were briefed on 6.11.13. All staff members were given the opportunity to comment on the policy and make comments. The final document was issued to all staff on 19.11.13. It is hoped that this document and the additional training will help to alleviate any confusion surrounding the work and reduce the number of mistakes made in the future. Carlingford Biotoxin Incident Samples collected for Biotoxin sampling on the ROI shore of Carlingford Lough tested positive for AZP (Azaspiracid) contamination on 6.11.13. This resulted in the production area (entire of the “ROI” waters in Carlingford) being closed for mussel production on 13.11.13. It also meant that any mussels landed between 6.11.3 and 13.11.13 were recalled from the market. Two clear samples were required for the production area to be opened again. Sarah McLean worked alongside the producers, SFPA, MI, FSAI and FSA NI to get the production area opened in the shortest possible time frame. Additional samples of Pacific Oysters were also collected for quality assurance. All additional samples came back negative for any traces of any form of Biotoxin contamination. AZP is relatively rare and has never been seen in Carlingford before now. It is widely accepted that this was either a freak Prepared by S Wilson Nov ’13 Page 5 incident or an anomalous result. However, as this is a food hygiene concern and as such had to be treated as worst-case-scenario. The Lough is now open as of 18.11.13. All of the Loughs Agency’s in-house control and mitigation plans worked well and staff were praised for their rapid response to the situation. Tralee and Clarinbridge Trip Ciaran McGonigle, Sarah McLean and Cass Bromley visited the Tralee and Clarinbridge oyster fisheries between 28th and 31st October 2013. The trip was designed as a fact finding mission. The team visited the Tralee Oyster Fishery Co-operative landing centre and a hatchery set up at Castlegregory. The Tralee fishery produces similar quantities of native oysters as Lough Foyle however the fishery is run by a local fishery cooperative set up in 1982. The fishery is run using a TAC and quota system and there is a cap on the number of vessels with transfer of licenses to a relative possible. The cooperative had used mussel shell successfully to increase spatfall success in the fishery in the past and would recommend this type of habitat creation/improvement works to other fisheries. Availability of suitable shell cultch was a limiting factor involved with continuing these development works. The team also visited Clarinbridge Co-operative and learned about the move from native oysters to bottom grown Pacific oysters.
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