Michael Creed (Cork North West, Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

The CSO published four Quarterly National Household Surveys (QNHS) for 2016, the fourth of which was released in February 2017. These showed that employment in the agri-food sector overall, including all its component parts, averaged 173,400 throughout the year. The agri-food sector represented circa 8.6% of national employment as measured by the QNHS.

The average figures for the years 2011 to 2016 are in the table. Annual figures for 2017 will be available with the release of the QNHS for Q4 2017, in February 2018.

2011	2012	2013	2014	2015	2016
000s	000s	000s	000s	000s	000s
140.2	141.4	163.7	166.7	165.7	173.4

Source: CSO Quarterly National Household Survey

It should be noted that after each Census of Population the sample of households for the QNHS is updated to ensure that it remains representative. The sample based on the Census of Population 2011 was introduced incrementally from Q4 2012 to Q4 2013. The CSO's Employment in Agriculture Information Notice (June 2016) stressed that such changes in sample can lead to some level of variability in estimates, particularly at more detailed levels such as the above. Therefore, the CSO says caution is warranted in the interpretation of trends over the period of new samples being introduced and particularly so for the Agriculture sector figures.

Food Wise 2025, the new ten year strategy for the agri-food sector published in July 2015 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.

If these recommendations are implemented, the expert committee which drew up the Food Wise 2025 Strategy believes that the following growth projections are achievable by 2025: increasing the value of agri-food exports by 85% to €19 billion; increasing value added in the sector by 70% to in excess of €13 billion; and increasing the value of primary production by 65% to almost €10 billion. With regard to employment, Food Wise foresees the creation of 23,000 additional jobs in the agri-food sector all along the supply chain from primary production to high value added product development.