Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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Question 137: To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the extent to which he and his EU colleagues expect the EU food-producing sectors to contribute to world food production in the future; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [28882/12]

Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)
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The Action Plan on Food Price Volatility and Agriculture adopted by the Ministers of Agriculture of the G20 in June 2011 underlined that to feed a world population expected to exceed 9.3 billion by 2050, agricultural production will have to increase between 50 and 70 percent, and by almost 100 percent in developing countries. The EU is a large food-producing bloc and must play its part in ensuring that there is sufficient food to feed not just its own citizens but the world. For its part, Ireland has a strategy for food production in place, Food Harvest 2020, which outlines our plans for food production over the coming decade. This industry developed report envisages a strategy of smart green growth. The targets agreed by the industry include increasing output from the sector by 33%, increasing value-added by 40% and increasing exports to €12bn per annum. There are also targets within each sector, including a proposed 50% increase in milk production. I have also ensured that the targets are being monitored, and progress is tracked through the 'Milestones for Success' reports that are being produced for that purpose.

In summary, food security in the European Union is the essence of what the new Common Agricultural Policy is about. Growing populations and increasing demand for protein-based foods, which is what we predominantly produce in Ireland through the dairy and meat industries, present a significant opportunity not only to continue, as the EU has been, to promote a sustainable way of producing food from an environmental and climate point of view but also to produce greater volumes of food. I will continue to make the case for sustainable intensification of food production, which is what agriculture should be all about.