Maintaining the UK market; developing other markets; and ensuring the domestic market is competitive are some of the issues that need to be addressed by the new €200 million capital investment scheme for agri-food processing and marketing.

That’s according to Food Drink Ireland (FDI), the group that represents the food and drink sector in the country, which welcomed the approval from the European Commission for the scheme, which was announced yesterday, Tuesday, February 4.

Paul Kelly, the director of FDI, said: “FDI has repeatedly called for exceptional state aid supports as we face the likelihood of a hard and disruptive Brexit, and a fracture of the single market.

The Irish agri-food sector and drink sector is uniquely exposed, presenting a compelling case for exceptional state aid support to minimise the economic fallout and job losses.

“The focus must be on maintaining markets in the UK, developing other markets and ensuring that, in the domestic market, companies remain competitive against imports,” Kelly outlined.

He added: “The scheme must introduce investment aids to support Irish agri-food companies as they invest in enabling technology; plant renewal and expansion; refinancing; market development; and innovation to regain competitiveness.”

Kelly said that FDI “looks forward to working with Government and Enterprise Ireland to ensure the scheme meets these objectives and is operational as soon as possible”.

The scheme, announced yesterday, will run until the end of 2025.

The scheme was welcomed by Michael Creed, the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, who said: “This approval – negotiated over the last two years by my department officials – will provide opportunities for the food industry to make the significant investments required for product and market diversification.

“It represents a significant response by the EU Commission, working with Ireland to mitigate the effects of a significantly challenging external market environment for the industry,” the minister added.