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Food Harvest 2020

Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 1 December 2010

Wednesday, 1 December 2010

Ceisteanna (27, 28, 29, 30, 31)

Thomas P. Broughan

Ceist:

29 Deputy Thomas P. Broughan asked the Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Food the progress made to date by the Food Harvest 2020 implementation group; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [45174/10]

Amharc ar fhreagra

Michael D'Arcy

Ceist:

37 Deputy Michael D’Arcy asked the Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Food the progress made on the establishment of implementation groups under the Food Harvest 2020 strategy; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [45258/10]

Amharc ar fhreagra

David Stanton

Ceist:

48 Deputy David Stanton asked the Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Food the strategies he has in place to encourage the expansion of agriculture between now and 2020; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [45229/10]

Amharc ar fhreagra

Johnny Brady

Ceist:

65 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. [45039/10]

Amharc ar fhreagra

Johnny Brady

Ceist:

81 Deputy Johnny Brady asked the Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Food the number of meetings there have been of the Food Harvest 2020 high level implementation group; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [45040/10]

Amharc ar fhreagra

Freagraí scríofa

I propose to take Questions Nos. 29, 37, 48, 65 and 81 together.

The Government‘s strategic policy document, Food Harvest 2020, outlines the vision for the expansion of the agri-food and fishing sector, the actions to be taken, and the targets to be achieved. Following its publication in July this year, my primary focus has been directed at ensuring a coherent and integrated approach to its implementation.

For this purpose, I have established, and am chairing, the High Level Implementation Committee (HLIC) bringing together the key actors in the state sector to ensure an integrated focused state implementation effort. The role of this central implementation group is to progress the development of the sector and to direct the activities of any ancillary group it may establish. Following its inaugural meeting on 16 September, a further meeting of the HLIC was held on 16 November, with its next meeting scheduled for 12 January.

The CEOs of the State Bodies and senior Department officials have been assigned responsibility for progressing the FH 2020 recommendations and have taken lead roles on the cross cutting issues requiring collaboration. All of these key players will be asked to report back regularly in 2011 to the HLIC on progress achieved.

To ensure that the opportunities that will arise in the dairy sector are fully exploited, the Dairy Expansion Activation Group has over the past few months been preparing a roadmap for the sector. This will highlight the key milestones from both the processing and production perspectives, identify any obstacles to implementation and necessary solutions. This roadmap will be formally presented to the HLIC shortly.

In recognition of the central role of research and innovation in Food Harvest 2020, I recently launched a research call of €10 million under the three public good research programmes operated by my Department. This call focused on the strategy's ‘Smart', ‘Green' ‘Growth' objectives and will build on existing research capability and support the development of collaborative research networks. A further initiative in this area, is the establishment of an Agri Research Expert Advisory Group which will facilitate greater input and resources from the agriculture industry into the design and structure of primary research. In addition, at the last meeting of the HLIC, the CEOs from a number of state bodies agreed to collaborate to provide the HLIC with a focused paper on developing and promoting innovation in the overall sector.

FH 2020 highlighted issues such as food industry competitiveness and the lack of profitability at producer level in certain sectors. A number of its recommendations focused on improving competitiveness and the need to promote effective business models. Success in these areas requires a sustained effort and focus by the key players involved and private efforts are being augmented by focused state initiatives. The implementation of FH2020 is supporting the targeted promotion of state competitiveness initiatives such as the Competitiveness Fund for the Food Industry, Lean Manufacturing Programme, Marketplace 2010, Food Innovation Vouchers and Marketing Fellows and Alumnus Programmes, etc.

To improve competitiveness at primary level, as provided for in FH 2020, Teagasc and my Department are working on farm level initiatives such as the increased use of farm partnerships, collaborative undertakings, technology uptake and the targeting of future schemes which have limited funding at those producers which have the best potential for growth. Furthermore, a small action focused inter-agency group will shortly be established to specifically implement the relevant beef farm level recommendations related to competitiveness, technology transfer and farm production systems.

A Horticulture Action Group has already been established to activate the relevant recommendations of Food Harvest 2020 and report back to the HLIC on progress in the new year. As part of their analytical work in developing the sustainability agenda for the Irish food sector, Bord Bia and Teagasc in conjunction with the Carbon Trust are undertaking an extensive pilot audit of 200 farms to demonstrate the sustainability of the beef sector. This initiative will provide consumer feedback on the values which could underpin a general approach differentiating our food and drink product. The HLIC has already endorsed these scoping actions and are being kept informed of developments on an ongoing basis.

These are examples of actions already undertaken and further progress on these and all recommendations will be monitored and activated at the next meeting of the HLIC on 12 January.

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