Dairy Industry Ireland (DII) has welcomed the publication today (Tuesday, October 25) of the Food Vision Dairy Group’s final report.
This morning, Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine Charlie McConalogue received a copy of the document.
The report failed to secure unanimous agreement from all stakeholders in the group with the Irish Farmers’ Association (IFA), Irish Creamery Milk Suppliers’ Association (ICMSA) and Macra all expressing major concerns.
However, DII, the Ibec association representing the Irish dairy and specialised nutrition sector, has come out in favour of the report.
It said that the document will allow the industry to “further increase and enhance its competitive advantage in global markets”.
DII believes that meaningful climate change actions could be achieved through the report, while sustaining economic opportunity, particularly for rural Ireland.
In a statement, the group “particularly welcomed the strong stakeholder engagement in shaping the recommendations of the report”.
Commenting on the publication of the document, DII director, Conor Mulvihill said:
“This is the beginning of a new phase of delivery and implementation to transform the Irish dairy sector in line with the vision and philosophy of Food Vision 2030.
“We will be consulting with member processors with a view to bringing forward individual strategies in line with the 19 recommendations of the report.”
Mulvihill said that “clear funding and policy mechanisms to help farmers meet these targets must be set out urgently by government”.
He added that the Irish dairy industry is investing in technology and processing improvements to meet changing consumer preferences and environmental obligations.
“Clarity and fairness on targets and carbon accounting treatments are a critical start to this journey.
“We will work with the arms of the state, on a whole of government and whole of sector basis to deliver on Ireland’s agriculture sustainability objectives and we call on government to give appropriate supports to enable us to positively achieve these targets and protect the social and economic sustainability of rural Ireland,” Mulvihill said.