John Gormley (Dublin South East, Green Party)
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Question 14: To ask the Minister for Community, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs if he will expand on his views on artisan food production expressed at a recent conference. [31220/06]

Éamon Ó Cuív (Galway West, Fianna Fail)
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With the number of people employed directly as full-time farmers continuing to fall, I see new opportunities for small farmers, their families and those with off-farm jobs to diversify as primary producers and as manufacturers. The continued growth and development of rural enterprise is the foundation on which we build a healthy and sustainable quality of life for all rural communities.

There is a growing demand for healthy foods that are locally produced and the Irish consumer is increasingly aware that in order for food from thousands of miles away to arrive 'fresh' in Ireland, it is often packed with added salts and preservatives. Many of our small food producers are drawing on a tradition of producing high quality safe food and are bringing those high quality foods to new customers.

Farmers' markets provide a route to meeting this demand. Locally grown produce on sale at a farm shop or at a farmers' market by the farmer is very attractive to the customer, as the direct contact with the producer enables greater traceability and food safety. It is in recognition of the importance of farmers' markets that I initiated the Support for Farmers' Markets measure under the CLÁR Programme's Village and Countryside Enhancement Scheme.

This measure is still in its early days but I want to highlight it as an invaluable vehicle for LEADER companies to utilise more fully when the new EU Rural Development Programme 2007-2013 starts. The funding provided from the European Agriculture Rural Development Fund for 2007-2013 represents a trebling of EU and National funding for rural development under a LEADER-type programme. This means an increase in the annual budget from an average of €21million per year to at least €60 million per year from a combination of European and National funding.

Finally, the issue of technical support for this developing sector is being pursued by my Department, in consultation with the relevant agencies.