Author: graham

Fine Gael TD for Wicklow/East Carlow and Chairman of the Oireachtas Agriculture Committee, Andrew Doyle, has led an Irish agriculture and food delegation in Luxembourg ahead of the St Patrick’s Festival. Deputy Doyle was accompanied by committee member Deputy Michael McNamara, the Ambassador of Ireland to Luxembourg, Peadar Carpenter, also joined in the Auchan event which was hosted by Auchan’s Director, Otto Gardin.

“Ireland currently exports €10 billion worth of food and drink products. Agriculture is the largest indigenous industry in Ireland and employs 167,000 people, from farming to food packaging, with the food sector accounting for 46,100 jobs alone. There are around 140,000 farms across Ireland with an average size of 32.7 hectares. There are around 7 million heads of cattle, 5 million sheep and 1.5 million pigs in Ireland.”

“It is a testament to our producers to view various Irish produce on display, including smoked salmon, mussels, cheese and various alcoholic drinks, including whiskies, ciders and stout.”

Following a Monday evening with Luxembourg’s Minister for Agriculture, Viticulture and Consumer Protection, Fernand Etgen, the delegation had meetings at the European Court of Auditors and with the Agriculture Committee of Luxembourg’s Parliament on Tuesday. In the afternoon they visited the Auchan hypermarket in Luxembourg-Kirchberg which will host a large presentation of Irish food and drink from next Tuesday 10 March.

“It was a very satisfying to see Irish produce displayed on shelves on Europe. The beef industry itself is very significant and the recent opening up of the US and Chinese markets to Irish beef bodes extremely well for the industry. The US is a significant market and sales to China are expected to commence by the end of 2015.”

Pictured: Andrew Doyle TD, Chairman of the Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture Food and the Marine, the Ambassador of Ireland to Luxembourg, Peadar Carpenter, Deputy Michael MacNamara at Auchan hypermarket in Luxembourg-Kirchberg, March 2015.

The Oireachtas Joint Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine was this afternoon advised of the need for careful expansion in the dairy sector to ensure a profitable and sustainable model can be secured into the future.

Representatives from main banks were before the Committee. The Banking and Payments Federation, AIB, the Bank of Ireland and Ulster Bank were appearing before the Committee as it continues its series of hearings on price volatility facing the dairy industry in the coming year.

Committee Chairman Andrew Doyle TD says: “We thank banking representatives for candid and valuable engagement this afternoon, which affords the Committee a first-hand opportunity understand their perspectives on the dairy sector in the shorter and longer terms. Ireland’s €10 billion agri-food sector employs about 100,000 primary producers, in every corner of the country. Therefore, access to credit for farmers wishing to sustainably grow their businesses is of vital importance to the health of communities across rural Ireland.

“This is the third in our series of hearings on the subject, and the Committee is concerned that the mistakes made in other countries should not be repeated. Rapid expansion and consolidation of dairy farms in New Zealand and Australia, for instance, has led to farmers running into financial difficulties. As a Committee, we endorse the approach by the banking representatives that expansion in this sector in Ireland must be underpinned by solid financial performance. With dairy farms accounting for a disproportionate number of farm deaths, we are also urging that farm safety must form an integral part of this expansion.

“With weak dairy prices impacting on the cash flow of many farm families, we also welcome the stated intentions of the banks to help them manage price volatility in the sector. Throughout this body of work, the Committee is seeking to provide a pathway to ensure reasonable sized family farms are protected, and we are encouraged that the banks are with them for the long haul.”