Mick Wallace (Wexford, Independent)
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58. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine if he is satisfied that his strategic plan, food wise 2025, which promises an increase in agricultural output meets international obligations on carbon emissions; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [14499/16]

Michael Creed (Cork North West, Fine Gael)
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International obligations on carbon emissions clearly recognise the fundamental priority of safeguarding food production. The Paris Agreement, which seeks to limit global temperature increases to less than 2 degrees Celsius, and to pursue 1.5 degrees, addresses this specific point in Article 2 of that Agreement. There is a clear link with what was agreed in Paris and the UN Sustainable Development Goal two, which is to “End hunger, achieve food security and improved nutrition and promote sustainable agriculture."

The Food Wise 2025 strategy aims to grow the Irish agri-food sector in an economic, environmental and socially sustainable manner, building on our strengths in the production of safe, healthy and nutritious food. Ireland is already one of the EU’s most efficient producers of milk and beef, in terms of carbon footprint per unit of output. Under Food Wise we are implementing measures to drive down the carbon intensity of our food production even further, resulting in both economic returns and environmental sustainability.

Food Wise 2025 includes clear and comprehensive commitments to managing the projected growth in the Irish agrifood sector in a sustainable way. The guiding principle underpinning this projected growth is that environmental protection and economic competitiveness will be considered as equal and complementary, one will not be achieved at the expense of the other.

Food Wise provides a framework for the agrisector to engage with the national mitigation plan and for the development of a common vision of transition to a low carbon future. There is a strong commitment in Food Wise 2025 to measure and monitor the sustainability credentials of the sector. As part of the implementation of Food Wise, an Environmental Sustainability Committee has been established. This implementation process will include evaluation and assessment of the delivery of sustainability and mitigation actions.

Mick Wallace (Wexford, Independent)
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59. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine if his food wise 2025 strategic plan adequately addresses the issue of food insecurity; the details of any analysis his Department conducted into developing alternative sustainable sources of protein; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [14500/16]

Michael Creed (Cork North West, Fine Gael)
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Food Wise 2025 is an enabling strategy for the sustainable growth of the agrifood sector over the next decade. 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.

Food security is defined by the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) as: “a situation that exists when all people, at all times, have physical, social and economic access to sufficient, safe and nutritious food that meets their dietary needs and food preferences for an active and healthy life”.At national level, food security is addressed through a range of Government policies providing social protection and supports for low income, disadvantaged and vulnerable groups. At international level, Ireland’s development aid programme has a strong focus on food and nutrition, including through funding from my own Department to the UN FAO and WFP (World Food Programme).

Food Wise aims to grow the Irish agrifood sector in an economic, environmental and socially sustainable manner, building on our strengths in the production of safe, healthy and nutritious food. Ireland is already one of the EU’s most efficient producers of milk and beef, in terms of carbon footprint per unit of output. But under Food Wise we are implementing measures to drive down the carbon intensity of our food production even further, resulting in both economic returns and environmental sustainability. In that regard I am satisfied that the strategy reflects food security considerations.

In terms of alternative sources of protein, Ireland’s agriculture is largely livestock based and, clearly, if we are to build on our strengths, this must be the focus of our objectives on food security. However we are developing our seafood industry and our tillage sector. In that regard, tillage accounts for 7% of agricultural land, and the opportunity to further significantly expand tillage production is limited by soil type and conditions. There is a support scheme in place to encourage production of protein crops under Pillar I of CAP.

The ambition that Ireland should be a global leader in sustainable food production, building on our natural advantages, is one that I hope is shared by all sides of the House, and Food Wise is a blueprint for how this ambition can be realised.