Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 15 October 2013
297. Deputy Andrew Doyle asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine if an interdepartmental group has been established between different Government Departments regarding meeting the targets set down in Food Harvest 2020; the Departments that are involved in this group; the frequency with which the group meets; the progress that has been made on this to date; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [43467/13]
View answerImplementation of Food Harvest 2020 is driven and monitored by the High Level Implementation Committee (HLIC) which comprises senior executives from Bord Bia, Teagasc, BIM, Enterprise Ireland, the Environmental Protection Agency and Forfas as well as departmental representation from my Department and the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform. Representatives from industry and from other departments, including Environment, Health, Enterprise, Heritage and Finance, frequently attend as determined by the issues being discussed. I chair these meeting which generally are scheduled on a bi-monthly basis.
The Food Harvest HLIC published its 3rd progress report, Milestones for Success 2013 in September which illustrates the excellent progress achieved to date. It provides numerous case studies on improving competitiveness, sustainability, innovation and entrepreneurship in the sector as well as tracking progress against the three main growth targets. The Deputy might note that, by end 2012, the value of primary production has risen by 25% vis a vis the 33% projected target for 2020 , exports have achieved 13% of the 42% projected growth while value-added has increased by 20% (end 2011-latest data). Furthermore in early 2011, the HLIC set end-2013 and end-2015 milestones so that they could effectively benchmark 2020 progress at interim stages and this report shows that all 34 actions to be delivered by end 2013 have either already been achieved or are on target. For further information, a link to Milestones for Success 2013 is attached :
http://ezone.agriculture.gov.ie/intranet/media/intranet/economicsandplanning/foodharvest2020/Milestones2013110913.pdf
