Written answers

Thursday, 13 November 2008

Department of Agriculture and Food

Food Industry

5:00 pm

Photo of Áine BradyÁine Brady (Kildare North, Fianna Fail)
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Question 234: To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Food the progress of the Government's strategy to promote Ireland's food investment and innovation strategy; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [40460/08]

Photo of Brendan SmithBrendan Smith (Cavan-Monaghan, Fianna Fail)
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The Agri-Vision 2015 Report sets out a vision identifying the delivery of safe, high-quality, nutritious food, produced in a sustainable manner, to well-informed consumers in high value markets as the optimum road for the future of the Irish food industry. The 160 actions in the Agri-Vision Action Plan set out a coherent strategy together with the National Development Plan (NDP) 2007-2013 that address the developmental issues relating to competitiveness, consumer-focus and innovation.

The sector will also benefit from the huge investment in transport and other infrastructure in the NDP, which is key to sustained competitiveness and to growing sales and exports. Agribusiness enterprise also has full access to the generic industry supports in the NDP for research, technology, knowledge building, skills and people and will benefit from NDP funding for food research.

A core €100 million fund is already supporting investment of €300 million in the dairy sector. We have also invested over €100 million in the past decade in building food research capacity and capability in the third-level institutions and have supported Bord Bia in developing marketing strategies for changing lifestyles and consumer needs.

In recent weeks I was also pleased, together with the Tánaiste, to launch an Innovation Initiative by Enterprise Ireland for the Prepared Consumer Foods sector. This envisages some €30 million in a range of innovation supports being available to innovating companies and includes possibilities for partnerships between large and smaller companies and for joint innovation projects between food and non-food companies. This represents a further strategic step in supporting the food industry following on from the investment of significant public funds in traceability systems, quality assurance schemes, research and development measures as well as measures at farm level to promote sustainable production meeting environmental and animal welfare imperatives.

This week I am visiting the US with Enterprise Ireland to promote Ireland's Food Investment and Innovation Strategy. The purpose of this visit is to impress on US business leaders the priority that the Government place on the development of the food sector and highlighting the benefits of collaboration with Irish food companies including access to leading edge food science and technology research in Ireland.

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