Séamus Kirk (Louth, Fianna Fail)
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Question 28: To ask the Minister for Agriculture; Fisheries and Food if, having regard to the targets in Harvest 2020, the marketing strategies being planned to expand market share in existing markets and to establish a foothold in new markets. [7697/11]

Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)
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As the Deputy recognised, Food Harvest 2020 sets out an ambitious roadmap and targets for the Irish food and drinks industry over the next decade. This is being driven by the high level implementation group, which I chair, and by a number of activation groups.

With regard to expanding Ireland's share in existing markets, Bord Bia is implementing or planning to implement a number of key initiatives. These include an expansion of the successful marketing fellowship programme with 30 executives undertaking more than 100 commercial assignments for 80 food and drink exporting companies in 13 overseas markets. I have met a number of people working on that fellow programme and it is very impressive. A reinvigorated Irish beef promotion in continental Europe with specific focus on the German market is under way and gaining success. We lost our market in Germany a number of years ago, as a result of the incidence of BSE, to South American suppliers of beef, but we are winning back that market. The growth of our market in Germany is impressive and it has the capacity to grow significantly. We are maximising the achievement of Carbon Trust accreditation linked to the Board Bia beef quality assurance scheme and are arranging the participation of Irish exporting companies in more than 20 international trade fairs.

I have spent some time since becoming Minister with Bord Bia in Spain and France and it is doing a good job at selling the quality of Irish food production. I am confident we will have strategies in place not only to expand European markets in terms of food exports but markets outside of the European Union. The Deputies opposite will find that I will be very proactive in this area. If we are to create the kind of good news story around the agrifood sector that Food Harvest 2020 can provide, we need to be proactive and aggressive at marketing Ireland as the best country in the world to produce high quality food that is environmentally friendly in terms of its carbon footprint, animal husbandry standards and the quality of food itself. We can do all of that very successfully with the agencies we have available to us.

Séamus Kirk (Louth, Fianna Fail)
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I take this opportunity to congratulate the Minister, Deputy Coveney, and the Minister of State, Deputy McEntee, on their appointments and wish them well in office.

I noted the points the Minister made in his reply but this reply and the reply to Question No. 26 seem to be inextricably linked. The difficulty with the marketing strategy particularly in the dairy sector is that it will be 2014 before full tilt production in that sector is achieved. It will be difficult to plan a marketing strategy on the basis that certain volumes of dairy product will be available to export to Asia, China or wherever. We are all pleased that China has been mentioned as a target area for Bord Bia and other agencies that might be working in that area.

There is a difficulty in this area having regard to production levels and the constraints on foot of the superlevy regime we have in place. I noted the points the Minister made in response to Deputy Moynihan. Having regard to the responses given and the indications that production levels in other member states in the Community are way below what their national quotas allow, I dare say that will give some hope to an industry that is chomping at the bit to move on in terms of increased production. There is a potential to create national wealth in an industry that perhaps has not performed up to the level it could previously, but with expansion there is the potential to do that. With the dichotomy that exists between constraints on production vis-À-vis the marketing of a product, the sector may not be able to fulfil the deliveries.

Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)
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I agree with much of what the Deputy said. The 2008 health check, which put the current superlevy system in place, was signed up to by the previous Government. I concede that everyone in this House recognises that we need to get more flexibility as 2015 approaches, and we will be trying to do that. Currently, the marketing campaign around food expansion in the dairy sector in this country must be based on the existing superlevy scheme until we can change it. We cannot plan to market food that will not be produced. Until there is a political solution that allows this country the flexibility to grow its dairy industry pre-2015 then we must plan our food harvest strategy on a significant expansion post-2015 and a limited expansion in terms of dairy volumes pre-2015. I would be the first to launch a new marketing strategy for increased dairy output pre-2015 if we could get a deal done politically on that. We are not there yet, however, so let us not pretend we are. In the meantime we must consider growth and expansion in other sectors that apply to Food Harvest 2020, for example, in the pig, chicken, beef and lamb sectors and other sectors that can grow and expand in terms of food output because they are not restricted by a quota system.