Lucinda Creighton (Dublin South East, Fine Gael)
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Question 82: To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Food when An Bord Bia will assume responsibility for marketing seafood; the staffing consequences for both An Bord Bia and Bord Iascaigh Mhara; if a specific budget will be ring-fenced for the seafood sector; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [44080/08]

Brendan Smith (Cavan-Monaghan, Fianna Fail)
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The seafood marketing and promotion element of Bord Iascaigh Mhara is to be merged with An Bord Bia. The Government's initiative in transferring the seafood marketing and promotion functions to Bord Bia will ensure the strengthening of seafood marketing as part of a more cohesive overall food marketing effort, while allowing BIM to focus all its energies in developing the seafood industry in line with the Cawley Strategy — Steering A New Course.

The integration of seafood marketing with the State's domestic and international food marketing body will deliver synergies and opportunities for seafood producers where Bord Bia can draw on its expertise in the food sector to identify key future trends and opportunities for growth while pre-empting and reacting to market, competitors and global changes. The amalgamation of the promotion and market development functions of BIM with Bord Bia, will enable one single agency to manage Ireland's food and drink marketing effort on domestic and international markets. This will facilitate a more effective and efficient marketing effort. It will include the merging of the agencies presence internationally, which overlap in the four markets where BIM currently has a presence.

My ambition is that the transfer will be effective from early in 2009 subject to any legal issues which may arise. In this regard, I am planning that the budget for seafood marketing and promotion currently within BIM's Estimates allocation will be transferred to An Bord Bia in respect of 2009. It is envisaged that the posts within the BIM European Marketing Offices along with the relevant marketing posts within BIM headquarters will be transferred to Bord Bia.

Bord Bia determines funding priorities and allocations within its Estimate and I am confident that the Board recognises the importance and opportunities available within the seafood sector and will provide the necessary funding in order to maximise the potential of the sector for 2009 and future years.