Michael Creed (Cork North West, Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context

Question 470: To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if a Cabinet sub-committee for the food and beverage sector still exists; the persons who sit on this committee; the amount of times same has sat since 2007 [25488/10]

Brendan Smith (Cavan-Monaghan, Fianna Fail)
Link to this: Individually | In context

As provided for in the Programme for Government a high level interdepartmental group was established to discuss cross cutting issues affecting the food industry. The group met twice. Membership comprised my Department, and the Departments of Finance, Foreign Affairs, Communications, Health and Children, Enterprise Trade and Innovation and Environment and Local Government. A number of issues of cross departmental nature were discussed including CAP/WTO, energy costs, waste management, retail margins, regulation and market access.

These issues have since been addressed by the Cabinet Committee on Economic Renewal, which has met 16 times since it was established in September 2008. The role of the Committee is to bring a new focus to the key policies and programmes necessary to ensure an appropriate and cohesive response to the scale of the challenges facing our economy. This includes overseeing development and implementation of the Government's Smart Economy framework for sustainable economic renewal which identifies the food sector as an important contributor to economic recovery.