The Oireachtas Joint Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine will tomorrow discuss an Irish Farmers Association (IFA) commissioned report on the importance of the cattle and sheep sectors to the Irish economy.
Report author and University College Dublin Professor of Agriculture and Food Economics Alan Renwick is before the committee, along with IFA president John Bryan.
“Tomorrow’s meeting is a valuable opportunity to assess the current economic impact of the cattle and sheep sector on the Irish economy,” said chairman of the committee Deputy Andrew Doyle. “The sector accounts for almost 100,000 full-time jobs in the 110,000 farms nationwide that have some cattle production and the 32,000 that have sheep. It is estimated that €2.3bn output at farmgate level creates total output of €5.7bn, making the sectors a key driver in Ireland’s export orientated agri-food industry. The sectors are also a significant contributor to rural and community life in every corner of the country.
“The committee will wish to consider with Prof Renwick and Mr Bryan how these sectors can be sustained and developed into the future, particularly with a view to achieving the ambitious Food Harvest 2020 targets. ”
The meeting takes place tomorrow afternoon Tuesday 1 October at 2pm in Committee Room 3 LH 2000. Committee proceedings can be viewed online here.