Food industry raises alert over Brexit talks

The Irish food and drinks industry yesterday called on the Government and the Commission to protect viable businesses and jobs during a potentially fraught Brexit process.

Food and Drink Industry Ireland (FDII), the Ibec group, said there is an increased likelihood of a hard and disruptive Brexit, and a fracture of the single market.

In a new report, it sought a series of exceptions from EU state aid rules for the Irish agri-food and drink sector.

FDII director Paul Kelly said there is a compelling case for exceptional state aid support to minimise the economic fallout and job losses.

Already the currency squeeze is putting intense strain on exporters.

This pressure is likely to intensify as the challenges and economic costs of a hard Brexit crystalise.

“The hardening of EU and UK negotiating positions mean we must plan for a very difficult Brexit process and the high possibility of a divisive outcome,” he said.

The report claims Irish food and drink exports are more exposed to the UK than any other European sector across a large number of categories; typically four to six times more exposed than the average EU country.

It says the sector’s extensive regional footprint, including regions economically disadvantaged relative to the EU average, means it is directly linked to the performance of the whole economy.

Bord Bia revealed last week that the value of Irish agri-food and drink exports had exceeded €11bn for the first time in 2016.

However, the underlying weakness and volatility of sterling negatively affected the competitiveness of Irish exports, reducing the value of trade by a potential €570m.