Paul Coghlan (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

Today we have more tangible strong evidence of an uplift in activity, boosting further our economic recovery. I refer specifically to the Bord Bia sponsored Irish food event at the convention centre today, following three days of visits to more than 100 Irish farms, factories and food producers nationwide. Almost 400 international food buyers from around the world are gathering today for this event at the convention centre. The international buyers and 450 Irish food and drink buyers and food service operators will meet 185 Irish food and drink companies. More than 5,000 pre-scheduled speed-dating style meetings are taking place throughout the day and the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Deputy Simon Coveney, and the Minister of State at the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Deputy Tom Hayes, are speaking with the participants and further boosting the business.

Bord Bia is targeting at least €30 million worth of new business which is tremendous. However, there is further huge potential in building more than 500 new trade relationships for the Irish food and drink industry which will greatly enhance our exports valued at €10.5 billion in 2014 with exports destined for 175 markets around the world. In addition to the strong representation of UK and European buyers, 106 Asian buyers have travelled to attend the event compared with just 14 in 2012 when the last marketplace event was held. Meanwhile 38 buyers will attend from the Middle East, 24 from North America, 15 from Africa and 12 from Russia. All international markets show a renewed growth reflected in a 16% increase in trade which stands at €3 billion or 29% of Ireland's total food and drink exports.The key point is this is a major event for the country. As we all can imagine and will welcome greatly, it will significantly boost further our export trade. All of the graphs are going in the right direction. Today's event will further enhance the efforts of this country and our economy.