Shane McEntee (Meath East, Fine Gael)

This is a very good subject. When I read the Irish Farmers' Journal today, I was not quite shocked to read that this country imports €3 billion worth of food every year. Someone said to me that if we all ate Irish chickens, we could employ an additional 1,300 people. It is not good enough that we import such an amount of food.

I believe the Irish agri-food sector is well positioned to take advantage of greater demand arising from increasing global population. Exports in the agri-food sector have performed strongly in recent years and offer the potential to increase significantly in the coming years. The Food Harvest 2020 report sets out the strategic vision for the agri-food and fishing sector and includes specific growth targets for the dairy, beef, pork and lamb sectors.

From a dairying perspective, the ending of milk quotas in 2015 represents an exceptional opportunity to increase milk output, and Food Harvest 2020 has targeted a 50% increase in milk production in the period to 2020. This target is ambitious but I believe it is realistic because the dairy sector has the capability to expand at producer and processor level.

The beef industry's ability to maintain and expand employment levels will depend on the extent to which its product offerings are competitive in EU and world markets. In this regard, my Department and its agencies provide an array of financial and infrastructural supports to underpin production and employment in the beef sector.

The pigmeat sector is the third largest individual component of the Irish agri-food industry and supports approximately 7,000 jobs, many of which are in rural communities. Production, prices and exports increased significantly in 2011, and robust domestic demand, coupled with a strong performance in export markets, should help ensure progress in the coming years.

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