Vol. 507 No. 4
33 Mr. Durkan asked the Minister for Agriculture and Food the extent, if any, to which he has evaluated the future prospects for agriculture and the food producing sector over the next five years; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [16964/99]
The future of agriculture and the food industry is, of course, my key overall concern as Minister for Agriculture and Food, and is, therefore, something that I keep under constant review.
The Agenda 2000 agreement has set the European policy context for the agriculture sector over the next five and more years. The outcome of the negotiations on Agenda 2000 was successful for this country, and converted a potential loss to farmers of £1,386 million over the period 2000 to 2006 inclusive, under the original Commission proposals, into an estimated gain of £395 million. An important key to the success in these negotiations was a careful and professional evaluation of the impacts upon the Irish agri-food sector of the various proposals made in the negotiations.
The National Development Plan will set out the agreed structural policy of the Government and the EU in relation to both agriculture and the food industry for 2000 to 2006. This plan will be based upon our evaluation of the structural needs of the sector. Work is well advanced on this plan and my Department is fully involved in its preparation.
The recent report of the food industry development group has provided a detailed assessment by experts in the field of the measures needed for the future development of our food industry in general.
