Brendan Smith (Cavan-Monaghan, Fianna Fail)

Food Harvest 2020, the blueprint for the development of the agrifood and fisheries sector for the next decade, was presented to Government in July this year. In my view, achieving its ambitious targets will require a concerted, co-ordinated and flexible contribution from all the key players: primary producers, industry. Departments and State agencies.

I have established and am chairing the high level implementation committee. The committee consists of all the key actors on the State sector and its function is to direct and take whatever actions are necessary to successfully implement Food Harvest 2020. As necessary, it will also act as a clearing house to steer any wider issues affecting the sector's development.

The committee held its inaugural meeting on 16 September and agreed that the following areas should be progressed: the development of the dairy sector; ensuring a credible sustainable agenda, including Brand Ireland; improving competitiveness and promoting effective business models; prioritising and advancing innovation, research and entrepreneurship; and he profitability of the beef sector. The next meeting of the HLIC is scheduled for 10 November and will progress a number of these issues.

Critical commercial decisions are required on production trends, product mix, and processing capacity for the dairy sector. The dairy expansion activation group was established on 15 October to further this objective. I have asked this group, consisting of farmers, processors and Teagasc, to submit to the committee by end November an initial road map which will highlight the key milestones from the production and processing perspectives, identify obstacles to implementation and how these should be overcome.

Within the overall framework of a joined-up State effort on implementation of Food Harvest 2020, State body chief executive officers and senior Department officials are being assigned responsibility for progressing actions and are taking lead roles for those cross-cutting issues which require collaboration. The important role of research and innovation in pursuing these goals was demonstrated by the recent €10 million call for research proposals under the three public good programmes. These focused on the smart, green and growth objectives of Food Harvest 2020.

The €100 million competitiveness fund for the food industry, which Enterprise Ireland operates on behalf of the Department, continues to focus on improving competitiveness and costs. In particular, the lean initiative will be important in helping to achieve the 20% improvement in competitiveness recommended by Food Harvest 2020. This successful programme is being rolled out to further companies in the sector.

The innovation voucher initiative is being used by smaller food companies to move their business onto the next level and to add value to their product. Bord Bia's marketing initiatives, such as Marketplace 2010 are delivering results. Its vantage services, as well as the work of its marketing fellows, have benefited many companies. These services and schemes are being extended.

While the above illustrates some of the actions taken to date, I will continue to lead and prioritise the implementation of this important national policy document across the full range of its 200 recommendations.

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