THE controversial appointment of a spokesman for a body representing loyalists to the board of the Agrifood and Biosciences Institute (Afbi) is to be raised today at a Stormont scrutiny committee.
MLAs on the agriculture and environment committee are expected to ask Edwin Poots to explain last week's appointment of David Campbell to the board of the public body.
Mr Campbell, a dairy farmer from Co Antrim, is chairman of the Loyalist Communities Council (LCC) which represents the UVF, UDA and Red Hand Commando.
He will join the board of the internationally-acclaimed Belfast-based institute on December 1, where he will be paid £412 for every day worked.
In applying for a place on the board, candidates were expected under public appointment rules to declare involvement in recent political activity.
While Mr Poots' department insists that candidates provided a declaration of political activity and any potential conflicts of interest, the press release last week announcing Mr Campbell and 10 other appointees did not cite any declaration relating to the LCC frontman.
The former Ulster Unionist Party chairman has issued two statements on behalf of the LCC since his appointment was announced.
On Sunday, he warned that that if the European Court of Justice continued to have oversight of the protocol, as agreed by the British government under the terms of the withdrawal agreement, it could lead to a "return to instability and potential violence".
Committee members Patsy McGlone and John Blair have both voiced concerns about the optics of Mr Campbell's appointment to Afbi and the process by which he was selected.
The SDLP MLA said it was "baffling", while his Alliance counterpart said Mr Poots should explain the appointment.
The role of Commissioner for Public Appointments, which regulates ministers' quango appointments, has been vacant since May following the sudden departure of Judena Leslie.
Mr Campbell, who has declined to be interviewed by The Irish News on the basis that he "can't speak without authorisation", has yet to comment.
