Michael Creed (Cork North West, Fine Gael)
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345. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the detailed independent figures available to his Department regarding investment in the dairy industry, both at farm gate and processor level, in recent years to take account of the ending of the milk quota regime; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [13239/15]

Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)
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In the run up to quota abolition a number of estimates in respect of capital investment have been made by various stakeholders. Using data from Enterprise Ireland we can see that over the past 2 years some €729M has been invested in 36 dairy and Infant Milk Formula plants. This represents significant investment and whilst much of the information about specific plants is commercially sensitive, details regarding many of the larger investments are in the public domain. These would include the Glanbia project in Belview, involving an investment of €235M. Other companies have also shown their confidence in the sector. Danone announced a €50m doubling of capacity in its infant-formula manufacturing plant in Macroom in Co. Cork in 2010. Kerry Foods has built a global innovation centre - involving the creation of 900 jobs - in Naas, Co. Kildare; Dairygold is investing €120m in a phased project to incrementally expand its production capacity; and Lakeland Dairies has recently began a €36m investment in an expansion of its milk-powder processing operations at Bailieborough, Co Cavan. Companies of this calibre do not commit to programmes of investment on such a large scale unless they have confidence in the sector and in its stakeholders.

The deputy will also be aware of study that was undertaken via the Cork Institute of Technology which sought to examine the economic benefits and infrastructure requirements for future expansion of the dairy industry in Cork. The results from the survey of dairies in Cork indicated that the level of investment in dairy processing is higher than previous estimates for the country in total. Based on the survey of Cork dairies in this study, processing investment in Cork alone is estimated to be about €77 5 million between 2010 and 2020.

There has been significant investment at farm level too. A joint study by Teagasc and Bank of Ireland presented in early 2015 showed that Dairy farmers invested almost €2 billion in the 2007 to 2013 period, with just under half of this investment in buildings, and almost €70 million in milk quota over the period. Teagasc estimates a requirement for further investment of €1.4 billion at farm level to meet the Food Harvest 2020 targets. A €4 billion Rural Development programme will help to bridge the infrastructural gap at farm level through targeted investments in equipment and facilities.