merrion street

The Minister of State at the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine has set out his medium term priorities in the areas of economic activity for which he is responsible.

Forestry, horticulture and the greyhound industry, combined, generate economic activity worth €2.5 billion annually and sustain more than 32,000 jobs either directly or indirectly.

Outlining his overall approach to his responsibilities, the Minister of State said: ‘My priority will be to maximise funding from all sources for the sectors for which I am responsible. The overall Government budget for 2012 and succeeding years faces severe cutbacks in order to overcome the disastrous budgetary and economic crisis we have inherited from the previous government. However, even as we work towards resolving this crisis, I believe we must still prioritise investment in the productive sectors of agriculture, the areas that can generate more wealth and jobs, especially in the less advantaged rural areas.’

The Minister of State made the following specific comments about each of the areas in his portfolio:

: ‘I have already announced the payment of €56.2 million to more than 11,500 forest owners as the main forestry premium payment run for 2011. The Programme for National Government includes a very challenging commitment to increase new planting of forestry to 14,700 hectares annually. This is an important policy target and I will be working closely with all the forestry industry stakeholders, especially our own commercial state-owned company, Coillte, to chart a way forward towards achieving it.’

‘My predecessor, Mr Tony Killeen, initiated three review groups into national forestry policy, the funding of forestry schemes and Coillte. When I receive these reports, I hope their recommendations may provide a firm basis on which to move the industry forward.’

: ‘I have previously announced a grant aid package of €4.1 million under the 2011 Scheme of Investment Aid for the Development of the Commercial Horticulture Sector. The package will provide grants to 157 horticultural producers to assist in funding capital investments in specialist new equipment and facilities. This investment underlines my commitment to the potential of this sector to deliver quality produce to consumers at a competitive price.

It is interesting to note that during this recession the number of people setting up a new food business, many of them selling directly to consumers, has increased steadily. In the first two months of this year requests to the Food Safety Authority of Ireland for information on how to set up a food business have increased by 29% compared with the same period last year. The continuing evolution of farmers’ markets in many parts of the country increases the potential for people to get involved in new horticulture businesses. I would like to see the creation of more horticulture producers groups and I want to explore the possibility of achieving EU product designation protection for some of our recognised and long-established Irish horticultural produce.

: ‘We recently appointed an excellent new Chairman of Bord na gCon, Mr Philip Meaney, and in the near future a number of new members of the Board will be appointed. A reinvigorated Board will provide Bord na gCon with the leadership it needs to take it forward successfully.

I recently indicated to Bord na gCon that I was not prepared to contemplate a proposal from them that involved the export of Irish greyhounds to the People’s Republic of China. My commitment to greyhound welfare is clear and I intend to progress the Greyhound Welfare Bill.’

: ‘The production of food to the highest possible standards of safety within sustainable farming systems is one of the major goals and objectives of the Department of Agriculture, Food and Marine. The Department deploys several hundred staff in monitoring, surveillance and inspection services along the links of the food chain within its areas of responsibility. We work closely with the Food Safety Authority of Ireland which comes under the aegis of the Minister for Health.’