James Geoghegan (Dublin Bay South, Fine Gael)
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884. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the number of meetings the high-level implementation committee has held monitoring the implementation of the Food Vision 2030 Strategy; if he will assess the success of the strategy to date; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [3476/25]

Martin Heydon (Kildare South, Fine Gael)
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Food Vision 2030, Ireland’s stakeholder-led strategy for the agri-food sector, aims for Ireland to be “A World Leader in Sustainable Food Systems”. It was designed using a food systems approach, recognising the requirement to have greater policy coherence across agriculture, food, and the environment. Food Vision has four high-level Missions:

Mission 1: A Climate Smart, Environmentally Sustainable Agri-Food Sector.

Mission 2: Viable and Resilient Primary Producers, with Enhanced Wellbeing.

Mission 3: Food that is Safe, Nutritious and Appealing, Trusted and Valued at Home and Abroad.

Mission 4: Innovative, Competitive and Resilient Agri-Food Sector, Driven by Technology and Talent.

I am fully committed to leading the implementation of Food Vision 2030 and driving progress toward our ambitions. The High-Level Implementation Committee has met twelve times to date, the minutes of which are published on my Department's website. The next meeting is planned for later this quarter. The Committee’s core objective is to monitor delivery on the four Missions through close collaboration with stakeholders.

The second Food Vision Annual Report was published in June 2024. Good progress on implementation has been made to date. The report highlighted that 141 actions (65%) have either been completed or have had substantial action undertaken and a further 75 actions (34%) have commenced and are progressing. Among the key achievements are: the new Forestry Programme; the National Horticulture Strategy; the National Bioeconomy Action Plan; the National Fertiliser Database; the National Dialogue on Women in Agriculture; the National Food Waste Prevention Roadmap; Ireland’s 4th National Biodiversity Action Plan; the National Strategic Plan for Sustainable Aquaculture Development; the establishment of An Rialálaí Agraibhia (Agri-Food Regulator); the National Genotyping Programme; the Suckler Carbon Efficiency Programme; the National Dairy Beef Welfare Scheme; the National Beef Welfare Scheme; securing Irish Grass Fed Beef as a Protected Geographical Indication; the National Farm Safety Measure; the Animal Health Surveillance Strategy (2023-2028); the Thematic Research Call; and the Ireland – New Zealand Joint Research Initiative. The third Food Vision Annual Report is expected to be published in quarter 2 of 2025.

A new Food Vision 2030 dashboard has been developed with phase one setting out baseline environmental data. Phase two will include baseline economic and social data, and will be released shortly. The aim of this new dashboard is to monitor progress against the key indicators set out in Food Vision 2030. The dashboard is available to the public through Gov.ie.

I am confident that with Food Vision 2030 as a strategic framework, Ireland’s agri-food sector will achieve its ambition to become a world leader in sustainable food systems.