Written answers
Wednesday, 24 March 2021
Department of Finance
Ireland Strategic Investment Fund
Jennifer Whitmore (Wicklow, Social Democrats)
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417. To ask the Minister for Finance the levels of funding, recipient enterprises, project details, investment objectives, timelines and expected emission reductions associated with the portfolio of investments under the Ireland Strategic Investment Fund supporting collaboration with the food and agriculture sector to decarbonise their supply chain in tabular form; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [13899/21]
Paschal Donohoe (Dublin Central, Fine Gael)
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I am informed by the Ireland Strategic Investment Fund (ISIF) that its investments to date in the Food and Agriculture sector have focused on Forestry and AgTech set out in the table below.
| Investment | Commitment €m | Objectives |
|---|---|---|
| Forais (Dasos) | 55 | Fund investing in new and semi-mature forests across Ireland underpinning the sector |
| AIBIM 1st Forestry Fund | 20 | Investment in a portfolio of forestry assets across Ireland |
| Finistere Ireland Ag Tech Fund | 20 | Partnership between ISIF and Finistere investing in start-up and early stage AgTech companies in Ireland, including: - CropX LL, an agriculture-analytics company that has developed an advanced adaptive irrigation service, which automatically optimizes irrigation, thereby delivering crop yield increase and water and energy cost savings to farms; and - ApisProtect Ltd moving the use of technology in beehives into the commercial sphere, to provide insight for beekeepers to prevent losses and increase productivity. |
| Finistere Ventures Fund II | 20 | Partnership between ISIF and Finistere investing in start-up and early stage AgTech companies globally which have the potential to transform existing and develop new sectors in Irish Agriculture. Portfolio companies have had engagements with the Irish Agriculture sector across the following areas; - Digital Agriculture: - FoodTech: - Animal & Plant Genetics: We expect that one of these portfolio companies will re-domicile their headquarters to Ireland in 2021. |
ISIF’s forestry fund investment in turn owns 8,000 hectares of forestry that sequesters 50,000 t/C02approx per annum.
ISIF is also collaborating with the Food and Agriculture sector on;
- decarbonising the heat requirements of the Food and Drink sector; and
- increasing carbon sequestration in soils.
These projects are at feasibility stage and therefore it is too early to quantify the precise impact.
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