Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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Question 418: To ask the Minister for Agriculture and Food the extent to which the food industry here is keeping pace with international developments in the area of pre-cooked, frozen or oven ready products; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [25000/06]

Mary Coughlan (Donegal South West, Fianna Fail)
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Pre-cooked, frozen or oven ready products may all be classified under the heading prepared consumer foods. The Irish prepared consumer foods sector is currently the fastest growing food sub sector with annual sales of €2.3 billion of which over 50% is exported, primarily to the UK. The sub-sector currently employs 14,500 in 280 companies.

The prepared food sector is currently experiencing strong growth and forecasts for future growth remain very positive. Valuable market opportunities continue to be available for Irish food companies which are willing to undertake the necessary research and to build the capability to respond quickly to consumer demands. Specific areas of opportunity exist for the food industry in the areas of consumer foods, functional foods and beverages, food ingredients and speciality foods. Health concerns are now a major influencing factor on consumers and functional foods, food for health and pharma-foods are forecast to become key drivers of growth within the sector. The well-being and vibrancy of our agri-food industry is heavily dependent on being continually and rapidly responsive to emerging consumer demand. Without investment in research and development, Ireland's food industry will be outstripped and out-paced by others who already possess the necessary research capability to meet these demands.

The substantial state investment in in-company research and technology transfer has driven and supported the research and development agenda within food companies. These supports, together with the tax incentives to encourage research and development, demonstrate the Government's ongoing commitment to the innovation agenda. Irish food companies, for their part, have encompassed the innovation challenge and are increasingly focussed on accelerating their research and development activities to meet the growth opportunities. I welcome the fact that a number of leading food companies are engaging with Enterprise Ireland in advancing significant innovation and research and development projects which are market led.