This article is from page 51 of the 2007-06-05 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 51 JPG
THE Minister for Agriculture and Food, Mary Coughlan, last week an- nounced the publication of the An- nual Review and Outlook for Agri- culture and Food 2006/2007.
“The all-encompassing nature of the agri-food sector 1s very much ev1- denced in this publication,” she said. “It continues to be one of the most important and dynamic indigenous manufacturing elements in the Irish economy, consisting of over 130,000 family farms and around 700 in- dustrial units spread throughout the Coa
“Tt plays a vital role in the Irish economy through provision of direct
as well as indirect employment and constitutes the backbone of rural de- velopment from both an economic and social perspective. The annual review reflects the level of impor- tance and the wide ranging nature of the sector.”
Despite increased international competition agri-food exports reach- ing a record level of more than €8 billion in 2006.
Within the export sector, there were notable increases of 26 per cent for beverages, 14 per cent for beef and 10 per cent for prepared foods. Overall, the agri-food industry is estimated to account for 9.8 per cent of total ex- ports, 8.1 per cent of gross domestic product (GDP) and 8.1 per cent of
employment.
“The food, drink and _ tobacco (FDT) sector continues to play a vital role in the Irish economy. It remains one of the largest indigenous indus- tries both in terms of manufacturing and consumer spend,’ continued the minister.
The FDT sector, with just over 15 per cent of units located in Dublin, exhibits a wider regional spread than the manufacturing sector as a whole where one quarter of units are con- centrated in and around the capital.
Among Irish enterprises the FDT sector has consistently outperformed the manufacturing sector as a whole in terms of the proportion of expend- iture attributable to Irish goods and
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This is highlighted by the fact that Irish Economic Expenditure (IEE) accounts for over 75 per cent of ex- penditure in the FDT sector com- pared with less than 50 per cent for the overall manufacturing sector.
Coughlan emphasised the Govern- ment’s commitment to the sector with public expenditure of €2.9 bil- lion in 2006.
She believes that the National De- velopment Plan (NDP) and Rural Development Programme 2007-2013 will ensure that adequate resources are made available for improving the structure and competitiveness of the Sector, in line with the vision set out in the Agri-Vision 2015 Action Plan.