EU recognition of food products could create thousands of jobs, FG claims

FINE Gael has called for a major initiative to encourage food producers and processors to benefit from EU-wide endorsement of the origin and quality of the food they produce, claiming that such a move would help create thousands of jobs in the Irish food sector.

Shane McEntee, Fine Gael’s deputy agriculture spokesperson, said that this country is lagging well behind other European Union member states in getting official EU designation of the origin and quality of our produce.

“Irish farmers, butchers, cheese makers and similar artisan producers should be able to get the same kind of EU quality brand endorsement as — for example — the French get for their wines, the Italians for their cheeses and the British for their ciders.”