Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Charlie McConalogue will, in the coming days, establish a number of stakeholder committees to look at the implementation of the Food Vision 2030 actions for dairy, beef and sheep.
The minister made the announcement today (Thursday, January 27) at the Irish Farmers’ Association (IFA) annual general meeting (AGM), which, he said, was his first time attending.
The AGM commenced this morning in the Roundroom of the Mansion House. An Taoiseach, Micheál Martin and Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Charlie McConalogue attended, along with Ministers of State for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Martin Heydon and Pippa Hackett.
The IFA will be present at that meeting and will contribute to the stakeholder meetings, IFA president, Tim Cullinan confirmed.
Minister McConalogue said that the vision within the Food Vision actions, was one to be proud of; that included, Ireland becoming a world leader in sustainable food systems over the next decade.
The vision also states that in “demonstrating the Irish agri-food sector meets the highest standards of sustainability, economic, environmental and social, it will provide the basis for the future competitive advantage of the sector”.
“The job now is to make it happen,” said the minister.
“I am committed to leading the implementation of this vision and I know that the success of this strategy will depend on effective implementation and oversight.”
He said producing a detailed plan to manage the sustainable environmental footprint of the dairy and beef sectors will be among the early deliverables of the stakeholder meetings.