Mr. Cormac Healy:

I wish to refer to the unemployment queries that Deputies Collins and Lawlor raised. In one way it is a good thing that we are talking about jobs and who will get them because at least jobs are being created. That is a positive.

With regard to food and expansion in the sector, there will be both a direct increase in processing jobs and a considerable increase in associated jobs throughout the ancillary industries at farm level and downstream. That is the way that the jobs will evolve. There will be a certain amount of direct jobs created in processing and additional jobs in associated industries.

Over the past decade there has been an increase in the number of foreign nationals working in the meat processing business. A significant number of them work in the sector for one simple reason. Individuals with the required skills are unavailable here. Despite the depths of unemployment to which we have dropped and the significant unemployment rate we have now, not so long ago Ireland was technically known to have zero unemployment. At that point there was a skills shortage and people moved out of these less attractive jobs. People who worked in these harsh environments moved to another sector such as construction. That led to a skills shortage and foreign labour was brought into the country. Clearly, the demand has now stopped. Outside of Europe, the permit system is extremely tight and difficult, but we have seen a change in the applications now being submitted for such work. There is a greater availability of people from the workforce here. People are now willing to consider such work.

In terms of skills, Mr. Kelly did not mention that the FDII has lodged an application for the Skillnets programme to provide a training programme that encompasses the food sector. A process must be gone through but the FDII is addressing the matter. In more recent years, the National Butchery Academy in Ballinasloe, County Galway, has been established. Although the course has small and modest numbers participating, the profession is moving in the right direction. The students have come from Irish meat processors and, on graduation, will take up employment in boning halls and processing facilities. The FDII will continue to focus on education and training.

Senator Quinn mentioned threats to the sector. Obviously, if I had the answer to his question, I would be outside of the committee room and working as a consultant. Dioxin threats, scandals and food scares are a major impediment to progress. Dioxin, BSE and the foot and mouth disease, though related, are not specific to the food processing area. We need to ensure there are controls along the food chain, to maintain them and not have them all bottlenecked into just one part of the food supply chain. We must also concentrate on driving quality in terms of schemes and throughout the food chain, from the farm and through processing. We must push all of these measures.

The tightening of the supply chain will be a significant factor for that segment of the market that was affected by the horsemeat controversy. Other issues are also threats, in particular, I highlighted the threat of a major EU-US trade deal, or an EU-Mercosur trade deal or an EU-Canada deal that unfairly treats a sector. We are not saying that the beef sector should stop all progress in the greater European economy, but are asking for fairness in how the sector is accommodated within that process.

Currency is another threat. We saw what happened from 2008 onwards as a result of the euro differential with sterling and the major impact this had on our food industry. The United Kingdom market is very important for the meat sector. Some 50% of the beef industry product is sold to the UK market. The industry has been diversifying into continental Europe to spread the risk of further threats.