Mick Wallace (Wexford, Independent)
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55. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine if he has any concerns that the strategic plans Food Harvest 2020 and Food Wise 2025 could have a destabilising effect on sustainable development in global food security, as highlighted by environment watchdog An Taisce; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [21329/16]

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 sectorial 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.

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.

Food Wise 2025 promotes the use of DAFM’s competitive research funding programmes - FIRM, Stimulus & CoFoRD – to support research that is heavily focused on sustainability all along the food production and processing chain. Accordingly, in addition to research to improve the environmental impact of Irish agriculture in terms of climate, water and biodiversity, a number of on-going projects are focused on:

- improving grass breeding, utilisation and management so as to support Ireland’s low input, grass based livestock production system.

- developing alternative native energy and protein feed sources as substitutes for imported grain

- advancing our understanding of both animal and human digestive processes leading to the development of novel dietary intervention products some of which can be used to assist with hunger alleviation efforts in extreme famine situations.   

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, and Food Wise is a blueprint for how this ambition can be realised.