Brexit: Edwin Poots 'asked for port staff to be stood down'

The top civil servant in Stormont's agriculture department has set out the sequence of events leading up to a decision to temporarily suspend Brexit checks at Larne and Belfast Ports.

Permanent secretary Denis McMahon gave evidence at the agriculture committee, along with NI's chief vet Robert Huey.

The session was meant to have taken place in private, but was ultimately heard in public.

MLAs heard that former minister Edwin Poots was central to the decision.

Senior figures in Mid and East Antrim Council also had had an important role.

The council decided to withdraw a dozen staff from the Larne border control post, just hours before the department suspended physical checks.

On the evening of 1 February, when the decision was taken, MLAs heard that Mr Poots rang Mr McMahon to ask for departmental staff to be stood down.

During the call he also expressed the belief that the PSNI did not have a proper grasp of the threat posed to officials, following the appearance of threatening graffiti and allegations that staff car registrations had been noted.

Mr McMahon told MLAs: "He stated that he was very concerned about the risk posed to staff.

"He was not convinced that the PSNI had a full understanding of the risk based on the continuous feedback he had been receiving and he emphasised the duty of care of officials to staff, and noted that Antrim council was already taking action and was clear that as DAERA minister action needed to be taken to protect staff.

"That's something I take very seriously and that's a unique situation, I have to say, when you're getting that kind of feedback."

He said following those calls, and after discussions with the chief vet, they had taken the decision to suspend.

The wording of the announcement was agreed by Mr Poots, who stood down the same evening for health reasons.

Mr McMahon said the department had a duty of care towards its employees and as a result had a "low threshold" for risk.

The committee was also told that a senior official of Mid and East Antrim Council had told Chief Vet Robert Huey at a meeting the previous week that the "threat was real" and he should take it seriously.

On Thursday afternoon, following the committee meeting, Mid and East Antrim Council confirmed it had "just received" a threat assessment from police and was coordinating a risk assessment along with the police, DAERA and others.

A spokesperson added:

"Council has a very low threshold concerning threats and the safety of its staff, and will always take decisive action to prioritise the safety and wellbeing of employees."

At the committee ,it also emerged that an unnamed local government officer had phoned Mr Poots the day before the decision was taken to alert him to "potential health and safety risks" as a result of threats to staff at Larne Port.

Sinn Féin MLA Philip McGuigan said the decision had created "political furore" and he was still unclear who had provided the information which influenced the move.

He said if a government department was withdrawing staff most people would assume the decision had been based on information supplied by the police.

He subsequently called for staff to be able to return to work immediately.

"I am deeply concerned after the evidence from the permanent secretary of the department, that despite genuine fears caused by disgraceful graffiti, the decision to remove staff from Larne ports may have been politically motivated," he said.

"The police have clearly put their assessment of any threat level into the public domain and it consists of graffiti and social media activity. They have stated they have no evidence beyond that.

"The protection of staff is undoubtedly a priority and given the information received at today's meeting, Mid and East Antrim Council should act immediately to get workers back to work safely and I call on DAERA to do likewise to ensure the movement of goods through the port."

UUP MLA Rosemary Barton said Mr McMahon had been placed in an "invidious position" and that staff safety came first.

The PSNI is to provide a formal threat assessment to the department, which will also want to carry out its own risk assessment before staff return.

The chief vet said the current suspension could probably continue for a couple of weeks before the EU would take any action.

He said products of animal origin posed the lowest disease threat and staff were continuing with live animal checks.

The PSNI later said there was no suggestion of involvement by loyalist paramilitary groups and no evidence to support claims that staff licence plate numbers had been recorded.

The appearance of the two officials at the Stormont committee follows a call from its chair, Declan McAleer, for MLAs to be given more information about the decision to withdraw staff.

Condemning any threats to workers, Mr McAleer said he also wanted to know what impact the move might have on trade.

There is no indication yet when physical checks may resume.

It is understood that decision will be subject to a number of risk assessments.