Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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1012. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the degree to which objectives and targets as set out by Food Harvest 2020 and Food Wise 2025 are being achieved; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [14265/19]

Michael Creed (Cork North West, Fine Gael)
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The main targets set out in the Food Harvest report published in 2010 were, by 2020, to increase the value of primary output by 33% and agrifood exports by 40% (both from a 2007-09 average baseline); and to increase value added production by 40% (from a 2008 baseline). In addition to these value increases, a target was set for a 50% increase in milk production by 2020, to be progressed following the abolition of milk quotas in April 2015.  

Progress on those targets is monitored and reviewed on an ongoing basis. The latest data available show growth of 50% for primary production and 49% for exports (based on 2018 data), and 47% for value added (latest available data 2016), versus the baseline period, demonstrating excellent progress.

Food Wise 2025, the latest ten year strategy for the agrifood sector published in July 2015, is the successor to the Food Harvest strategy. It 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, believed that the following growth projections are achievable by 2025: increasing the value of agrifood 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 agrifood sector all along the supply chain from primary production to high value added product development.

In July 2018, I launched the third annual progress report of Food Wise 2025: Steps to Success 2018. This showed that by 2017 exports had increased by 15.9% and primary production by 8.9% compared to the baseline.

As of Q4 2018, of the 375 detailed actions which were due to commence by 2018 or are on-going actions; 79% have been achieved or substantial action has been undertaken; and a further 21% have commenced and are progressing well. This represents a 6% increase in target achieved over quarter 3 2018.