Michael McCarthy (Cork South West, Labour)
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To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine his views on a letter to Friends of the Irish Environment on 3 September 2012 (details supplied) in which European Environmental Commissioners Dacian Ciolos, Commissioner for Agriculture and Rural Development and Janez Potočnik, European Commissioner for Environment, jointly stated that: we fully share your view that Food Harvest 2020 will benefit from both a Strategic Environmental Assessment under that Directive and from an Appropriate Assessment under the Habitats Directive as it would identify upfront any environmental risks that its implementation may entail, in particular for the topics mentioned in your letter, and be able to adopt the plan accordingly; if he will advise on the stance he has taken in relation to this issue since that letter was issued; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [41447/12]

Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)
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Coordination of the State contribution to Food Harvest 2020 is being overseen by the High Level Implementation Committee (HLIC) for Food Harvest 2020, which I chair. The Committee includes representatives from Bord Bia, Teagasc, Bord Iascaigh Mhara, Enterprise Ireland, the Environmental Protection Agency, the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform and my Department. The HLIC also engages regularly with various private sector groups with a key role in FH2020. Implementation of many of the key measures needed to achieve the growth figures set out in the report is a matter for private sector actors including industry and individual farmers.

As a high level strategic vision, the Food Harvest 2020 report does not contain implementation plans related to specific sites, including Natura 2000 sites. However, my Department and the HLIC are acutely aware of the need to ensure that appropriate assessment and strategic environmental analysis are considered, in line with the relevant EU Directives, and carried out where required, in the course of achieving the targets set out in the report.

The HLIC committee recognised that the broad strategic targets in the report could be achieved in a variety of ways and determined that an independent environmental analysis should be commissioned of various possible scenarios through which the targets set out in the report could be achieved. The results of this analysis will inform the implementation of measures by all relevant actors, including those in the private sector. An independent team of experienced consultants with expertise in both agriculture and environmental assessment has been procured by my Department to carry out this work. The team has presented a detailed interim report to the HLIC and is due to present its final report by the end of October.

The analysis is in line with the strategic environmental assessment process. It includes the likely impacts of achieving the targets on: biodiversity; flora/fauna; water (including groundwater quality); soil; air quality; landscape; and climatic factors (including impacts on greenhouse gas emission levels).

My Department is considering if the analysis should include an appropriate assessment under the Habitats Directive, and in this regard are engaged in discussions with the European Commission.