A public consultation on the Strategic Environmental Assessment of the Agri-Food Strategy to 2030 will close tomorrow (Tuesday, June 15).
The public consultation on the draft strategy, along with the Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA) and Appropriate Assessment (AA), opened on April 17, and will close at noon tomorrow.
The draft strategy was prepared by a committee of stakeholders, chaired by Tom Arnold, and facilitated by the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine.
In parallel with the work of the committee, the SEA and AA were prepared independently by environmental consultancy firm RSK Ireland, to determine the likely significant affects on the environment of implementing the strategy.
Minister for Agriculture Charlie McConalogue issued a reminder of the closing date at the end of last month, saying he had been “encouraged by the robust debates, discussions and opinions that have already been expressed by many stakeholders”.
Announcing the strategy in April, the minister had said that the strategy “envisions Ireland as a world leader in sustainable food systems over the next decade”.
“It considers many of the issues that will be central to the development of the sector over the next ten years,” he had noted.
“These include a strong focus on improving primary producer viability and farm incomes; the importance of ensuring that our food offering continues to be high-quality, safe and healthy; and the requirement for an environmentally sustainable agri-food sector.
“The draft strategy’s mission-led food systems approach has sustainability in all its forms – environmental, social and economic – at its core,” according to Minister McConalogue.