Agri-food sector holds the key to national recovery

THE country is gearing up for one of the harshest budgets we have seen in a long time. This summer has produced the Bord Snip report, the Commission on Taxation report and the NAMA legislation is before the Dáil.

A black cloud is hanging over us as the Minister for Finance deliberates cuts and further taxation measures.

All in all, government strategy looks likely to try and cut and tax its way out of economic recession. But where is the planning, where are the initiatives to get Ireland back to work, to stop the haemorrhaging of jobs and indigenous enterprises from rural areas, to promote rural regeneration and to revitalise the indigenous agri-food sector?

The Government, in its document ‘Building Ireland’s Smart Economy’, looked to the agri-food sector for a major economic stimulus and as source of potential for economic recovery.

The agri-food sector is dependent on rural and indigenous enterprise; it is dependent on rural farms and rural businesses. But with just two pages dedicated to this issue, there were no realistic proposals actually to address how the Government would support the sector.

With all these proposed cuts in the pipeline, how is the agri-food sector supposed to develop further?

I feel it is important to recognise the importance and value of the agri-food sector in Ireland. Not only does it support local agricultural communities to further develop an environment that is supportive of local community and enterprise development, but in 2008 the sector accounted for 10% of the total merchandise exports from Ireland, at nearly €8.6 billion in product.

I am convinced this is the path to economic recovery as there is great potential to increase our exports and create jobs in the sector.

The benefits to be reaped from expanding the agri-food sector would be national, regional and local and would pull Ireland out of the recession, if harnessed correctly.

At the start of the summer the Oireachtas Committee on Enterprise, Trade and Employment commissioned a report entitled ‘What is required to expand employment in the agri-food sector’ and I have been conducting meetings with interested parties, including the IFA, Teagasc, the Irish Association of Seafood Companies (IASC) and small agricultural producers.

Similarly, I issued questionnaires to more than 1,000 companies as well as making it available on the committee web page. So far the response rate has been good but I would like to reiterate that this is potentially the only opportunity for all those involved in the agri-food sector to influence Government policy in the sector for a long time.

There is need for a coordinated and integrated approach in the collation of information for this report and I would urge all those interested to make a submission for inclusion in the drafting of this important project. Only an approach across the whole sector will produce a report that can increase the competitiveness and sustainability of the Irish agri-food sector and create jobs in Ireland.

The questionnaire is currently available online on the Oireachtas homepage www.oireachtas.ie or from my office, [e-mail]

All submissions are greatly welcomed. While the final date for receipt of submissions was September 18, surveys will be accepted after this deadline.

It is time for practical solutions to the crippling unemployment that faces this country. It is time Ireland embraced the natural resources bestowed upon us to realise our competitive advantages internationally.

Arthur Morgan TD

Teach Laighean

Sráid Chill Dara

Baile Atha Cliath 2