Food sector courses need new recipe

THE content of third-level curricula relating to Ireland’s €15 billion food processing industry needs to be urgently reviewed and rebalanced, it was stressed yesterday .

A report published by the Government-established Expert Group on Future Skills Needs, in association with FÁS and Enterprise Ireland, outlined the skills requirements of the industry for the future and recommended how these criteria could be met.

It noted that the sector, which directly employs 45,000 people and a further 280,000 indirectly on farms and in sub-supply industries and ancillary services, is currently experiencing unprecedented change.