Michael Healy-Rae (Kerry, Independent)
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42. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the status of Irish farm produce (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [8695/16]

Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)
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Food Wise 2025, the new ten year strategy for the agri-food sector published in July last year, identifies the opportunities and challenges facing the sector and provides an enabling strategy that will allow the sector to grow and prosper. Food Wise includes more than 400 specific recommendations, spread across the cross-cutting themes of sustainability, innovation, human capital, market development and competitiveness; as well as specific sectoral recommendations. It identifies ambitious and challenging growth projections for the industry over the next ten years.

It is central to the Food Wise strategy that Irish agriculture and food production is produced to the highest international standards of quality and food safety, for both organic and non-organic production,and that Irish food safety and traceability systems are recognised as among the very best in the world. Food Wise 2025 acknowledges that this status is fundamental to the continued growth of international markets for Irish goods and will need to be maintained and enhanced if the 2025 growth forecasts are to be achieved.