Brian Hayes (Dublin South West, Fine Gael)
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Question 507: To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Food the extent to which a beef and sheep meat industry investment fund has been advanced since December 2008 as outlined in the Building Ireland's Smart Economy: A Framework for Sustainable Economic Renewal report. [43129/09]

Brendan Smith (Cavan-Monaghan, Fianna Fail)
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Details of the projects to be supported under a capital investment aid scheme for the beef and sheepmeat primary processing sectors were announced in May of this year. 15 projects were approved for grant assistance of over €69 million. The grant awards, which are part of a strategy to ensure the long-term competitiveness of the industry, will contribute to total investment in the region of €168 million. Details of the awards are in Appendix 1.

This Beef and Sheepmeat Investment Fund is financed by my Department and managed by Enterprise Ireland. The selection of projects followed careful assessment and evaluation by an expert committee comprising members from Enterprise Ireland, my Department, Bord Bia, the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment, private industry and academia. The investment will support increased scale and efficiency in primary processing, and added value in further processing for retail, food service and manufacturing outlets. No overall increase in processing capacity within the sector is envisaged. The fund is expected to achieve over €400 million in additional sales and exports, and a net expansion of 800 in employment following its completion in 2012. The investment projects are progressing well and a number of grant payments are expected to be made before the end of the year.