Ms Lockhart said AFBI’s credibility has been called into serious question following concerns surrounding biosecurity, environmental compliance and animal welfare, alongside a significant data breach, coupled with failures within governance and laboratory practices uncovered by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE).

Referring to a report compiled by a sub-group, made up of four AFBI Board members, and published in May 2026, Ms Lockhart said: “It is simply not good enough for a non-departmental publicly funded body, sponsored by DAERA, to rely primarily on internal reviews when serious allegations had been raised by whistleblowers.

“The central issue here is accountability. When serious concerns are raised about a public body, particularly one which is sponsored by DAERA and plays such an important role within Northern Ireland’s agri-food sector, the public and members of the farming community deserve to know that those concerns are being investigated thoroughly and independently.

“Instead, we appear to have a situation where AFBI was asked to investigate AFBI. Put simply, that is marking your own homework.”

The Upper Bann MP said: “Whistleblowers presented photographs and video footage relating to incidents, recorded over a period of approximately three years. AFBI acknowledged that it was aware of many of those incidents, including the pollution of Hillsborough Lake, when they originally occurred and believed the issues had been dealt with appropriately.

“That raises an obvious question: if the organisation was satisfied with how these matters were handled at the time, how can farmers and the wider public have confidence in an internal process which reviewed those very same decisions?”

She added: “AFBI has said that the outcome of its investigations, inspections and audits was positive and that all necessary actions were undertaken to the satisfaction of inspectors. However, given the seriousness of the allegations, AFBI cannot simply expect the public to accept assurances that everything is satisfactory because the organisation says so itself.

“This comes against a backdrop of wider concerns surrounding the organisation. AFBI has been embroiled in a significant data breach, while failures in governance and laboratory practices have also been identified. These are not isolated issues which can simply be brushed aside.

“AFBI is a public body, funded by the taxpayer. It should therefore be held to the very highest standards of openness, transparency and accountability.”

Carla Lockhart MP continued: “Farmers across Northern Ireland are subject to rigorous inspections, regulations and enforcement. They are expected to comply with the rules and, where concerns are raised, they face scrutiny from external authorities. There cannot be one standard for ordinary farmers and another for a government-backed organisation.

“If a farmer faced allegations involving animal welfare, biosecurity and environmental practices, I doubt very much that they would be permitted to carry out an internal review and then simply declare that the outcome was satisfactory.”

“That is why there must be a genuinely independent examination of these matters, with full transparency around the evidence considered, the findings reached and the actions taken,”explained the MP.

Ms Lockhart added: “The credibility of AFBI is very important, not only to the organisation itself, but to Northern Ireland’s entire agri-food industry. That credibility cannot be protected by closing ranks or asking the public to take the organisation’s word for it.

“AFBI must recognise that the issue here is not simply whether it disputes the allegations. The issue is whether the process used to investigate those allegations commands public confidence.

“At present, serious questions remain unanswered. AFBI cannot be allowed to mark its own homework and then expect everyone else to accept the grade.”

Carla Lockhart MP continues to press for full scrutiny, transparency and independent accountability surrounding the allegations and the processes used to investigate them.



“Public confidence has to be earned,” she added. “Given the concerns that have been raised, the only way to restore that confidence is through a process which is genuinely independent, transparent and beyond reproach.”