Govt must put food sector 'at the very heart' of economy

Food and Drink Industry Ireland has called on the Government to put the food sector "at the very heart" of the Irish economy.

In its submission to the government's '2020 Strategy' consultation on the future development of the agriculture, forestry, fishing and food industries, the group expressed concern at the lack of policy coordination across the range of departments that impact the sector.

FDII said that this often had a direct and adverse effect on companies operating in the sector, undermining their ability to grow and compete in highly competitive international markets.

The submission calls for the establishment of a high level group of senior officials from the relevant departments and agencies, working with direct industry involvement and coordinated by the Department of the Taoiseach, to tackle the problem.

FDII Director Paul Kelly said: “The food and drink sector is Ireland’s most important indigenous industry. 230,000 jobs are linked to it through direct and indirect employment. It exports over €7bn of produce and it accounts for almost 50% of the goods and services sourced in Ireland by the manufacturing sector.

"The full extent of the supply chain, from farm to fork, is located here in Ireland. This means that both Government policy and the regulatory environment affect the sector more than any other.

"The industry can grow from €20bn output to €30bn, which will lead to the creation of many more new jobs.

"However, this will only be achieved if we have better coordination between government departments and agencies in how they support, promote and regulate the sector.

Among the recommendations to support the growth potential of the food and drink industry are:

The establishment of a manufacturing productivity competence centre, as recommended by the High Level Group on Manufacturing;

Bringing electricity, waste and other input costs in line with and ultimately below the EU average

Linking taxation incentives to promote the development of biodegradable waste infrastructure that utilized agri-food feedstock;

Completing the process of development of industry-led strategic research agendas for the food and drink sector;

Enhancing the flexibility of the R&D tax credit scheme and adopting the recommendations of the Innovation Taxforce on tax measures to encourage industry innovation.