Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 8 December 2020
37. Deputy Emer Higgins asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine his plans to develop a successor to the sustainable healthy agri-food research plan; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [41483/20]
View answerDeputy Durkan is taking Question No. 37 for Deputy Higgins.
This question seeks to ascertain the extent to which the Minister proposes to follow up on the previous sustainable healthy agri-food plan.
The sustainable healthy agri-food research plan, SHARP, was developed and published in 2015 in response to the then Government's national research prioritisation exercise, NRPE. The plan has guided our key research priorities over recent years in respect of the competitive funding programmes we operate.
My Department, as part of its agri-food strategy to 2030 will, in due course, develop a new research and innovation agenda as a successor to SHARP. This will reflect the key focus on innovation in both Food Wise 2025 and its anticipated focus in the agri-food strategy to 2030. The preparations for this new research and innovation agenda will commence once the overarching agri-food strategy to 2030 and the successor to Innovation 2020, the current national strategy for research and development, science and technology, are completed.
It is envisaged that the new research and innovation agenda will most likely take the form of an overarching framework that aims to provide for a coherent approach to the competitive funding and conduct of research and innovation in future years. The new research and innovation agenda will also be guided by high-level EU policy developments such as the European Green Deal and its related strategies, as well as specific EU research and innovation strategies such as Food 2030, its bioeconomy strategy and its research and innovation plan for agriculture and rural development.
As Minister of State with responsibility for research and development in agriculture, I was pleased to announce an additional €3 million allocation to the Department for research, bringing the total investment allocation to €18 million for next year. This is a sign of the prioritisation the Minister, the Minister of State, Senator Hackett, and I place on research and development. There is huge potential in areas like the bioeconomy and we are mindful of the pressures coming down the line in terms of innovation and sustainability around everything we do, including food production and increasing our output, and the challenges we face in this regard. I very much welcome this important increase in funding in this area for the year ahead.
I thank the Minister of State for his comprehensive reply. Will he outline the degree to which he intends to shift emphasis, given the challenges that are coming down the track? Will he indicate the degree to which he and his Department have evaluated those challenges and, as a result, made decisions in terms of a particular shift in policy in order to obviate any negative impact?
The national research prioritisation exercise and how it related to SHARP was born out of the wake of the financial crisis. The then Government established an independent group of mainly external experts to identify priority areas for research funding under competitively operated programmes based on set criteria. Two of those areas were smart, sustainable food production and processing and food for health. Just as was done on that occasion, we, too, will look at the present set of circumstances.
The successor to Food Wise 2025, which is our ten-year agricultural programme, will be published early in the new year. It will be key that our research plan mirrors the targets and objectives set out in that programme. We must also be aware of the challenges facing us in the coming years, many of which are already set out. There are opportunities as well as challenges in terms of the European Green Deal and the farm to fork strategy, and at the heart of those opportunities is sustainability. The Deputy can take it as given that while innovation will continue to be absolutely key, sustainability will be at the heart of our efforts in that regard, as it will be at the heart of our food strategy into the future. It is an area in which we in Ireland have real strength in terms of the story we can tell around our food production and our food and drink exports.
Can the Minister of State inform the House as to the degree to which he has, at this time, identified precisely the nature and extent of the challenges facing the sector, particularly post Brexit? Does he consider that it may be necessary to introduce a more ambitious programme to shift the emphasis and focus onto new areas that will be of benefit directly to the agri-food sector?
Devising strategy is an ongoing and ever-evolving process. The Department and I are absolutely determined to identify new opportunities for our premier producers to improve and supplement their income. There are huge opportunities in a number of areas. When we talk about environmental elements, it tends to be with a fairly negative approach insofar as they may impact on agriculture, primary producers and farmers. However, if one looks at the bioeconomy, for example, there is potential for us to identify areas where, in the past, certain products were seen as waste elements within the food production process. There is scope to identify the value and added value such products may have. For instance, the €20 million Glanbia plant in Lisheen is taking what was a waste product and identifying potential out of it. The European Innovation Partnership, EIP, model in west Cork is making a range of uses out of the grass-fed dairy produce system, with really innovative outcomes. All of that is feeding into what our new research programme will look like, and we must ensure that marries with our 2025 agri-food strategy. It is an ongoing process and one we continue to monitor very closely.
