Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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91. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the extent to which he expects the fishing industry to develop in the future, with particular reference to value-added products, and employment in the sector; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [34845/15]

Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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93. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the extent to which families dependent on fishing continue to be able to rely on a reliable income in the future; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [34847/15]

Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 91 and 93 together.

Foodwise 2025 recognises that seafood, in common with the broader food sector, will benefit from the projected increasing global demand for food produce over the coming decade. Current FAO estimates are that world consumption of fish will grow by an average annual consumption of 17 kg per person per annum resulting in a requirement for an extra 40 million tonnes of seafood by 2030. The report identifies that Ireland is well placed to take advantage of this opportunity because of our natural advantage of being adjacent to some of the most productive fishing ground in the EU.

In order to avail of this opportunity we need to pursue a strategy of growing raw material supply through sustainable development of aquaculture and encouraging landings into Irish ports of quota compliant catch by other Member States. We need to add value to that material by moving away from commodity exports and developing prepared consumer seafood products. Last but not least, we need to effectively market Irish seafood products on world markets.

Earlier this year, I announced a new €241 million Seafood Development Programme funded by the Irish Government and the European Maritime and Fisheries Fund. I expect that this Programme will be adopted by the European Commission in the next month or two and I will then be rolling out a range of Schemes to promote this strategy for the seafood sector. The new Programme involves a doubling of our levels of investment in the seafood sector and will enable us to achieve the potential identified in Foodwise 2025 and to achieve the Government’s target of growing employment in the seafood sector by 3,000 to 14,000 by 2020.