Martin Heydon (Kildare South, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

The sustainable healthy agri-food research plan, SHARP, was developed and published in 2015 in response to the then Government's national research prioritisation exercise, NRPE. The plan has guided our key research priorities over recent years in respect of the competitive funding programmes we operate.

My Department, as part of its agri-food strategy to 2030 will, in due course, develop a new research and innovation agenda as a successor to SHARP. This will reflect the key focus on innovation in both Food Wise 2025 and its anticipated focus in the agri-food strategy to 2030. The preparations for this new research and innovation agenda will commence once the overarching agri-food strategy to 2030 and the successor to Innovation 2020, the current national strategy for research and development, science and technology, are completed.

It is envisaged that the new research and innovation agenda will most likely take the form of an overarching framework that aims to provide for a coherent approach to the competitive funding and conduct of research and innovation in future years. The new research and innovation agenda will also be guided by high-level EU policy developments such as the European Green Deal and its related strategies, as well as specific EU research and innovation strategies such as Food 2030, its bioeconomy strategy and its research and innovation plan for agriculture and rural development.

As Minister of State with responsibility for research and development in agriculture, I was pleased to announce an additional €3 million allocation to the Department for research, bringing the total investment allocation to €18 million for next year. This is a sign of the prioritisation the Minister, the Minister of State, Senator Hackett, and I place on research and development. There is huge potential in areas like the bioeconomy and we are mindful of the pressures coming down the line in terms of innovation and sustainability around everything we do, including food production and increasing our output, and the challenges we face in this regard. I very much welcome this important increase in funding in this area for the year ahead.

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