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Tom Hayes T.D., Minister of State at the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine today presented the 2013 Diageo and Boortmalt Malting Barley Excellence Awards in the Guinness Storehouse in Dublin.

Minister of State Hayes acknowledged the commitment of Diageo and Boortmalt to supporting and developing the Irish malting barley sector. The Minister stated “Malting barley production is a very valuable and important section within the agri-food industry and the future prospects of this sector are very positive, primarily due to increasing global beer consumption and a general fall in the area of malting barley production internationally. It is widely accepted that Irish malt is regarded as being of a very high quality and thus a premium product, mainly due to our favourable growing conditions and the range of spring barley varieties available to our growers”

Minister of State Hayes praised Diageo and Boortmalt Ireland along with the support of the IFA for arranging this awards event which he believes will promote excellence in malting barley production. Minister of State Hayes noted that Diageo is the largest single purchaser of barley in Ireland and sources almost 90% of its malting barley requirements locally through its supplier Boortmalt. In his address the Minister of State confirmed “the expansion by Boortmalt of its malting barley capacity is an important commitment to the sector and goes a long way towards supporting the validity of targets outlined in the Development Plan for Irish malting barley production and in turn maximising its contribution to Food Harvest 2020”

Finally, the Minister congratulated all the malting barley growers who were recipients of the awards.