The Department of the Environment is responsible for the environment in Northern Ireland. These are external links and will open in a new window. The department was called the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development between 1999 and 2016 and was previously known as the Department of Agriculture for Northern Ireland or the Ministry of Agriculture. Mr Poots (The Minister of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs): Thank you, Mr Speaker. Durkan was elected to Derry City Council in 2005 topping the poll with 2369 first preference votes. DoE was therefore one of the six direct rule Northern Ireland departments that continued in existence after devolution in December 1999 by the Northern Ireland Act 1998 and The Departments (Northern Ireland) Order 1999. the amount allocated for the work carried out by the previous departments with those responsibilities. That was the message from Edwin Poots who has been appointed as Minister of the Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs (DAERA). It is in a unique position to positively impact and influence not only our economy, but also our environment. Newton Emerson: Moment of truth arriving for the executive over pandemic, Man from Northern Ireland rang Ibrox as Celtic were losing to Rangers to report a bomb, court hears, All-Ireland Championships under threat as NPHET advises level 5 lockdown. The main changes relating to its remit were as follows: Devolution continued until all ministerial offices were vacated on 26 January 2017, due to a political dispute between the Democratic Unionist Party and Sinn Féin. Patrick Murphy: Are some of the Pope's ideas similar to the core principles of socialism or even communism? Infrastructure Minister Nichola Mallon is to change planning rules to tighten up regulations on fracking. Other changes to planning rules announced by Ms Mallon will allow the following without planning permission: Mrs Mallon said that she hoped the proposals would encourage growth in the electric vehicle market and allow better coverage for mobile phones and broadband. Transcript below: Inter-ministerial Group for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Mr Speaker: Members, I have received notice from the Minister of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs that he wishes to make a statement. But the minister says she plans to extend the planning permission requirement to cover exploration. The proposals will be brought to the infrastructure committee in the coming weeks for scrutiny. [CDATA[//>