Richard Bruton (Dublin North Central, Fine Gael)
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Question 130: To ask the Minister for Agriculture and Food the number of meetings of the Food Agency Co-operation Council in 2004 and 2005; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [23638/06]

Mary Coughlan (Donegal South West, Fianna Fail)
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The Food Agency Co-operation Council was established in 2000 under the aegis of my Department to promote the fullest practical co-operation between the State Agencies involved in the food industry, in the interests of the optimum development of the industry. The Council met on 20 occasions between 2000 and 2003. During 2004 and 2005 priority was given instead to meetings of the food development agencies directly concerned with the food programme components of the National Development Plan 2000-2006. Two such meetings took place in 2004, one in 2005 and one in 2006 to assess progress on the Plan in preparation for meetings of the NDP Monitoring Committees.

The Council has produced a number of publications, which were well received by the industry. In 2001 it was instrumental in the drawing up of a Human Resource Development programme for the food processing industry and produced "Market Trends — Implications for Suppliers and State Agency Initiatives". A "National Food Incident Management Plan" was launched in 2002 and a "Market Led New Product Development Guide" was drawn up by the Council and launched in April 2003 to provide guidance to food and drink companies on best practice in this area. The Guide has since been promulgated to County Enterprise Boards. The Council has played a significant role in increasing co-operation between the state agencies in the food area and a number of "Memorandums of Understanding" have been agreed between agencies.

In the light of a more market orientated CAP, the 2015 Agri-Vision Report and the Enterprise Strategy Report my Department has examined future co-operation arrangements between agencies for the most effective development of the agri-food industry. Arising from this, I have included in the Plan of Action to implement the 2015 Agri-Vision Report, the establishment of a high level group of CEOs of food agencies, which will subsume and develop the Council's role, and a Food Industry Committee. Both will be chaired at Ministerial level and will ensure a consolidated approach towards the development of the food sector as a whole and identify and address issues impeding the development of the sector.