Dáil Éireann debate -
Thursday, 14 Feb 2002

Vol. 548 No. 4

Written Answers. - Food Industry.

Ivor Callely

Question:

20 Mr. Callely asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and Rural Development the success of An Bord Bia's marketing strategy of Irish food and drink products on the home and export markets; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [4115/02]

Minister for Agriculture, Food and Rural Development (Mr. Walsh)

An Bord Bia has been in existence since 1994, and the success of its marketing strategy can best be judged, in my view, by reference to the increase in output and sales by the Irish food and drinks sector since that time. Output in the food industry is currently valued at €13.9 billion representing 25% of all industrial output and has increased by €2.8 billion since 1993. Exports have increased by €1.3 billion in the same period.

At export level, the work of the board has been instrumental in heightening awareness of the capabilities of our food and drinks industry and the range and quality of products that it can supply. A measure of its success has been the fact that our food exports have continued to rise since 1998 when they exceeded the €6.3 billion mark for the first time – apart from 2001, which as we can all appreciate, was a difficult year. It is worthwhile to note that the overall reduction of 7.7% in our exports for 2001 can be specifically attributed to the difficulties encountered in the beef and live cattle trade and in fact masks a significant increase in exports of sheepmeat, pigmeat, edible horticulture, cereals and prepared foods. It is predicted that this year will see a reversal of the downturn in beef sales and a steady return to the overall growth trends of previous years.

Aside from the economic considerations, I believe that Bord Bia has played a pivotal role in increasing standards at all levels in our food industry. It operates quality assurance schemes in the beef, pigmeat and eggs sectors to the highest international standards. Its marketing of our food and drink industry under the "Ireland the Food Island" banner has served to put Ireland on the international food map and has furthermore instilled a sense of national pride in our most valuable indigenous industry.

I am confident that Bord Bia has a major proactive role to play in the future development of the food industry and that it will undertake this role with the same tenacity and professionalism that has hallmarked its formative years. The range of programmes that it has in place will serve to address the challenges faced by food producers in this ever-changing environment of e-commerce, consumer trends and increasingly competitive marketplace and will assist and complement the endeavours undertaken by the food industry itself.