Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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233. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the total number of persons currently employed directly or indirectly in the agri-food sector in each of the past four years to date; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [38469/24]

Charlie McConalogue (Donegal, Fianna Fail)
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My Department continually monitors the levels of employment in the agriculture and wider agri-food sector. Employment figures are primarily sourced from the Central Statistics Office's (CSO) quarterly Labour Force Survey.

The agri-food sector is an essential part of the economic and social fabric of Ireland, especially in rural and coastal areas. Irish food is produced by farmers, fishers and agri-food companies around the country and this locally produced food is exported to over 180 countries around the world. In 2023, employment in the agri-food sector was 171,400 people, representing 6.4% of total employment, in Ireland. The table below shows total employment in agri-food in the past four years, by sector.

Table: Thousands of Persons (Aged 15-89) Employed in Agri-Food, 2020-2023

Note: The estimate for the Manufacture of Beverages has a wider margin of error due to a small sample size for this sector in the Labour Force Survey. Employment in Manufacture of Wood and Wood Products is based on the CSO 2022 Census of Population.

The Labour Force Survey is based on the main employment a person reports in the survey. Where a part-time farmer reports their off-farm job as their main employment, they will not be recorded as working in primary agriculture. Teagasc outline in their annual National Farm Survey that up to 42% of farm holders have off-farm employment while 60% of farm holders and/or their spouse has off-farm employment.

It is also important to note that while the overall level of employment from these sectors equates to 6.4% of total employment nationwide, the proportion of employment outside Dublin is much greater. For example, CSO data shows that employment in Agriculture, Forestry and Fishing (primary producers) accounted for 4.0% of nationwide employment in 2023; however it alone represented 8.8% of employment in the border region and 6.8% in the south-east region.