Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 4 November 2010
83 Deputy Johnny Brady asked the Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Food the progress that has been made in implementing the recommendations of Food Harvest 2020; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [40757/10]
Amharc ar fhreagraThe following are some of the actions which have been taken to date to progress the implementation of Food Harvest 2020:
I have established and am chairing the High Level Implementation Committee (HLIC). The HLIC consists of all the key actors on the state sector. Its function is to direct and take whatever actions are necessary to successfully implement Food Harvest 2020 and to act as a clearing house to steer any wider issues affecting the sector's development. It held its inaugural meeting on 16 September and the next meeting is scheduled for 10 November.
There have been ongoing meetings between my Department and various players in the industry including Teagasc, on particular aspects of this 2020 Strategy. This obviously feeds into the overall process.
To progress necessary commercial decisions on production trends, product mix, and processing capacity for the dairy sector, the Dairy Expansion Activation Group was established on 15 October. This group is to submit to the HLIC by end November, an initial 'road map' to deal with these issues.
State Body CEOs and senior Department officials are being assigned responsibility for progressing actions and are taking lead roles for those cross cutting issues which require collaboration to ensure ‘joined-up' state effort.
My Department's recent €10 million call for research proposals under its three public good programmes was focused by the 'Smart' 'Green' 'Growth' objectives of Food Harvest 2020.
These illustrate the main actions being taken to ensure effective implementation of this important national policy document, right across the full range of its 200 recommendations.
