52Nd MEETING of the FOYLE CARLINGFORD and IRISH
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85th MEETING OF THE FOYLE CARLINGFORD AND IRISH LIGHTS COMMISSION Wednesday 19th February 2014 11:00 am Silverbirch Hotel, Gortin Road, Omagh Attendees Present Winston Patterson (Chairman) Alan McCulla (Vice Chair) Phil Mahon Theresa McLaverty Seamus Rodgers Donal Tipping Laurence Arbuckle Mick Murphy Michael McCormick Joe Miller Jim Wilson 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) Apologies Andrew Duncan 1. Welcome and Apologies Winston Patterson welcomed everyone to the meeting and accepted apologies from Andrew Duncan. 2. Conflict of Interest There were no conflicts of interest with any agenda items. PREPARED BY S WILSON FEB ‘14 1 3. Minutes of the Previous Meeting There was one error noted in the previous minutes which were pointed out to Siobhan Wilson to make amendment. The remaining minutes of the previous meeting were agreed as an accurate record. Proposed Seamus Rodgers Seconded Phil Mahon The Board were provided with an amended version of the 83rd Minutes and all agreed they were content with the amendments made. 4. Reserved Minutes There were no reserved minutes to note from the previous minutes. 5. Matters Arising Winston Patterson advised the Board on the update in relation to the current vacant position of CEO. He confirmed that he was a member of the interview panel and the first round of interviews took place on 14th February 2014 in Dublin. Winston added that the second round of interviews would take place in Belfast on 27th February 2014 and that he was unaware at this stage of how many would be invited back for a second interview and further added that the information would hopefully been known after the NSMC Meeting on Friday 21st February 2014. Winston advised the Board members that their input would be required after the selection panel make their recommendation and then this information would be passed to the NSMC for their final approval. He concluded by saying that he would be in touch with the Board members with the next step in the process. 6. CEO Report John Pollock, Acting CEO provided the Board with the following report: John referred to the letter addressed to the Board from the three Local Trade Union representatives within the Agency in relation to DFPs instruction to increase the staff pension contributions with effect from 1st April 2014. John provided the Board with an explanation of the pensions issue and explained that the consultation process had not commenced yet as all information has not been received from DFP. He agreed to PREPARED BY S WILSON FEB ‘14 2 keep the Board informed on progress. The Board asked that the letter be acknowledged. John Pollock advised the Board in the matter of the transfer of former public service years a scheme rule change will be brought forward to the next NSMC Sectoral meeting and this will allow for transfers in and out of the Foyle Fisheries Pension Scheme. John drew attention to the additional paper Financial Commentary provided at the meeting and advised that this will be brought to the Board at every Board Meeting going forward. Board members are asked to advise him if they require any further text or explanations of the tables. Winston Patterson thanked John for his report and added that the Audit Sub Committee should continue with their work in ensuring that all areas of audit are brought to the full Board’s attention and they should raise any issues on behalf of the Board at the quarterly meetings. 7. Directors Reports Winston Patterson advised the Board that they have been supplied with the Directors Reports and asked they have any questions or issues they wished to raise with the directors. Corporate Services John Pollock, Acting CEO provided the Board with the following report: Internal and External Audit Work on the recent Internal Audit commenced in December 2013 both the Board and the Audit Sub Committee will be advised on their recommendations when they are forwarded to the Agency. NIAO audit on the draft 2012 Financial Statements is nearing completion and has been forwarded to the C&AG in Dublin for final review. Their management points when available will be brought forward to a future Audit Sub Committee / Board Meeting. North South Ministerial Council The next North South Ministerial Council Sectoral meeting is planned for 21st February 2014 in Armagh. PREPARED BY S WILSON FEB ‘14 3 2013 Annual Report Work has commenced on the drafting of the 2013 Annual Report and the final draft will be brought to the Board later in the year. Staffing There is currently only 1 vacancy – CEO Post Advisory Forum The next plenary Forum meeting is scheduled for 8th April 2014 and focus group meetings will continue to meet and report back to the full Forum. The Chair Peter Archdale will be invited to meet the Board again at the next available meeting following the Forum meeting. Corporate Plan 2014-16 and Business Plan 2014 The draft business plan is included in the papers for the Board to review and takes into account the 4% efficiency reductions imposed by the Finance Departments. The draft Business plan is currently with the Sponsor Departments for their review and comment. 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 now approved the proposed amendment and it is planned to seek final NSMC approval by Ministers at the Sectoral meeting in February 2014. North South Pension Update No further update to report. The Economic Appraisal on the Agency joining the N/S Pension Scheme has been cleared by both Sponsor Departments and is still being 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 grading. The Agency PREPARED BY S WILSON FEB ‘14 4 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. Premises The Board are advised that there was a small fire in the Omagh office. The fabric of the building was undamaged however there was extensive internal smoke damage. The clean-up, repairs and replacement of equipment etc is currently in the hands of our insurers. The Agency is currently operating in the Omagh area from temporary rented office space at the local business park. Board Training Essential Skills training is being arranged for newly appointed Board members or members that missed the previous training. Also if any members feel they require training in any area please advise Siobhan Wilson and she will make the booking. There were no questions for John in relation to his report. Aquaculture and Shellfisheries Barry Fox, Director of Aquaculture and Shellfisheries provided the Board with the following report: SMILE Carrying Capacity Model Lough Foyle “The concept of carrying capacity of an ecosystem for natural populations is defined as the maximum standing stock that can be supported by a given ecosystem for a given time.” Water and shellfish sampling has continued in Lough Foyle to help inform this model and assess the drivers of shellfish growth in the Lough. This involves a considerable amount of work to help determine background levels of parameters such as chlorophyll-a, dissolved organic material and nutrient levels. These sampling programmes have commened in October 2013 and will run until October 2015 using concurrent growth monitoring in native oysters, mussels and Pacific oysters to help future predictions of change in the ecosystem based on increased aquaculture production of these species. The model will also allow us to balance the needs of wild species within the Lough with that PREPARED BY S WILSON FEB ‘14 5 of farmed species of shellfish and help mitigate against over-stocking any particular area of the lough with any species. Any negative interactions between the shellfish farms and wild species such as native oyster beds will be addressed and recommendations for buffer zones and sustainable licensing of shellfish farms in the future will be made at the end of the project. The Agency are currently collating a substantial amount of background information in GIS format on the fisheries and aquaculture in Lough Foyle and will be making this available to the modelling team from AFBI/Longline Environemtnal ltd. This information will go towards understanding the ecosystem changes that have taken place in Lough Foyle over the past 10 years and will help with predictions of future ecosystem changes based on current and predicted aqauculture production levels. Some of this work will involve new up to date surveys to be carried out on the Lough on aquaculture operations, wild mussel populations and surveys of other wild filter feeding shellfish such as clams and cockles. Side Scan Trials The Agency have just taken delivery of a side scan survey unit and will be trialling this with BIM in Lough Foyle in the coming weeks.