Nora Owen
Question:109 Mrs. Owen asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment the plans she has for product development and marketing of the timber industry. [24849/01]
Written Answers. - Timber Industry.
Considerable support has been provided to the timber industry by Enterprise Ireland in relation to research, development and marketing. Over £5 million has been approved for the industry in research and development grants during the last six years. The support is going to projects such as timber drying, process automation, development of timber frame components and manufacturing systems, and, the creation of value added products such as flooring, quality fencing and innovative panel products. As a result, companies are increasing their processing efficiency yields and this, together with the value added products, has helped the industry to become more competitive and market focused. In addition, Enterprise Ireland's London office has been actively involved in developing a strong image for Irish timber. Considerable quantities of sawn timber are exported to the UK.
COFORD, the national council for forest research and development, is also involved in product development and marketing under the Productive Sector Operational Programme 2000-2006 of the national development plan. COFORD has allocated over £2.3 million to product and process development within the timber processing sector.
I established the timber industry development group last year to make recommendations for the optimum development of the timber industry and to identify the important economic, marketing, technical and infrastructure issues impacting on the industry. I expect the group will be reporting to me shortly. I am already aware that the need for the industry to become even more market focused and develop more value added products have been identified as two of the major challenges facing the industry in the short term. Enterprise Ireland will work closely with the industry in addressing these challenges.