Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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166. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the extent to which employment throughout the food industry remains positive notwithstanding the potential of Brexit; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [32485/16]

Michael Creed (Cork North West, Fine Gael)
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Ireland's agri-food sector is one of our most important indigenous sectors.  Employment figures in 2015 show that it accounted for 8.4% of total employment, or up to 166,000 people in 2015.  In the context of Brexit, it is important to maintain this important sector to ensure that it continues to grow strongly in overall economic terms.

We have seen that the most immediate impact for our agri-food sector as a result of Brexit has arisen from changes to Euro-Sterling exchange rates, and that the mushroom sector has been particularly affected.  A number of actions are being taken to try to mitigate these immediate impacts.

Both Bord Bia and Enterprise Ireland have been providing practical guidance to SMEs.  Bord Bia recently announced a number of measures, covering areas such as managing volatility impacts, providing consumer and market insight, deepening customer engagement and extending market reach, which are aimed at helping companies to maintain their competitiveness.  Similar support is being provided by Enterprise Ireland through their 5 point plan for exporters to the UK.

In addition, I announced a number of measures in Budget 2017 that will financially underpin my Department's Brexit mitigation efforts through strategic investment in key areas of the Department, its agencies and in the agri-food sector.  In particular, funding for capital investments in the commercial horticulture sector has been increased to €5 million in 2017.  The horticulture, livestock and tillage sectors, will also have access to the €150m low interest cash flow support loan fund, providing access to highly flexible loans for up to six years, for amounts up to €150,000, at an interest rate of 2.95%. 

I am keeping the situation under review, including through discussions with the recently-established Consultative Committee on Brexit. This Committee met for the second time last week, and will continue to facilitate an ongoing exchange of dialogue with my Department as the situation in relation to Brexit unfolds.