Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 8 December 2021
184. Deputy Colm Burke asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the work that has been carried out by his Department with stakeholders to date in 2021 to develop new opportunities for Irish agri-food producers; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [60623/21]
View answerThe promotion of Ireland's high-quality, safe, nutritious and sustainably produced food, and the development of export opportunities for Irish food producers, are core objectives of my Department and its agencies, in particular Bord Bia.
In support of the achievement of these objectives, the Government has provided Bord Bia with significant additional funding over a number of recent budgets, including in 2021. This funding is targeted at realising the opportunities to grow Irish exports of agri-food products, as well as supporting companies that are establishing and expanding their presence in international markets. It is particularly focused on markets that have been identified by Bord Bia as providing the greatest potential for export growth across the full range of product categories.
My Department's Ministerial Trade Mission programme is also informed by this market prioritisation work, and these Missions have become a key component of our strategy to develop new opportunities for Irish agri-food producers. Despite the challenges presented by COVID-19, in 2021 Minister Heydon and I have led a significant programme of virtual Trade Missions and key customer engagements. These have covered Vietnam, Malaysia, Thailand, Japan, China, Singapore and West Africa, as well as our traditional markets in the EU (Germany, Netherlands), UK and US.
My Department also continues to work on the market access opportunities provided by recent EU Free Trade Agreements with third countries, and to press at Government-to-Government level for the removal of technical market access barriers for specific product categories across a range of third country markets.
