Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 17 February 2015
287. Deputy Seamus Kirk asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the position at the end of 2014 regarding the targets for growth set for each sector in Food Harvest 2020, published in July 2010; the estimated number of jobs created in each sector following expansion; the increase in production and export growth for each sector; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [7154/15]
View answerCSO Trade statistics for 2014 were released last week. These show that the Food and Beverages categories (less tobacco) showed an increase of 5.8% in exports compared to 2013, demonstrating the continuing strong performance of agri-food exports relative to overall export growth (By comparison, overall merchandise exports increased by just 2.4% compared to 2013).
Food Harvest targets were for value increases to 2020 for primary production, value added and exports and details of the progress achieved is set out in the following table.
Food Harvest 2020 – Progress to Date
|
Headline Targets |
Baseline (2007-2009 Average) |
FH2020 Target |
Latest (2014) |
|
Primary |
€4.596 billion |
€6.275 billion +33% |
€5,977 million + 30 % |
|
Exports |
€8.298 billion |
€ 12 billion + 40% |
€ 10,574 million + 27 % |
|
Gross Value Added |
€6.053 billion (2008 baseline) |
€8.568 billion + 40% |
€7,450 million + 2 3 % (2012, most recent data) |
|
Milk Output Value |
€1.465 billion |
+50% |
+ 44 % |
|
Cattle Output Value |
€1.552 billion |
+20% |
+ 27 % |
|
Pigs Output Value |
€309 million |
+50% |
+ 54 % |
|
Sheep Output Value |
€172 million |
+20% |
+ 32 % |
|
Dairy Exports |
€2.198 billion |
+ 60% |
+ 39 % |
|
Beef Exports |
€1.526 billion |
+25% |
+ 35 % |
|
Pigmeat Exports |
€334 million |
+40% |
+ 71 % |
|
Sheepmeat Exports |
€172 million |
+25% |
+ 2 7 % |
|
Seafood Exports |
€334 million |
+40% |
+ 62 % |
Based on the latest CSO data (Quarterly National Household Survey, Q3 2014), employment in the agri-food sector overall now stands at 168,600, or 8.8% of total employment.
