 First of all I'm delighted to be here. I think that the IIEA is not only a really good organization for forcing people to think in a slightly broader way than we often do but I also think it's a hugely relevant organization and I think the the agenda that has been set for today and the theme of the conference today is one that is an extraordinarily important one for Ireland as well as global populations and European populations outside of Ireland. My job is to respond in terms of how this country plans to take forward what I regard as our most important industry not only indigenous industry but but industry as a whole which is the agri-food sector which involves primary producers i.e. farmers and fishermen but also involves processors, food companies, marketing people, agencies like Borde Bia and so on. Many of you will have heard me speaking over the last number of months about the context under which the Common Agricultural Policy Review is being debated this time round. I think a number of things have changed fundamentally in the food debate in the European Union and I think that over the last six months in particular there has been a realization amongst many people who in the past had had taken a very simplistic approach towards how we feed the European population which was based on importing cheap food imports to try and provide food as competitively and as cheaply as possible for our consumers. I think the debate has become a much more sophisticated one now. The issue of food security is now centre stage and the importance of Europe producing not only its own food but also the contribution that the European Union has to make in feeding the world in a much broader sense and I think the Common Agricultural Policy in the past has been about protectionism. It's been about creating an artificial market for food production in the European Union that limited supply in order to drive demand in order to keep an artificially high price for food which by the way was necessary because we were asking our primary food producers to produce food under conditions that were not being applied in other parts of the world and therefore it was more expensive to produce a liter of milk or a ton of grain or a ton of beef in the European Union than it was in other parts of the world and we needed to compensate farmers for that and rightly so and so as European consumers demanded and the European political system demanded high standards around issues like traceability, animal husbandry, disease control and all of the other things that have been a really good thing for developing a standard and a brand and a promise around Irish food of quality and consistency of supply that had a price tag and that's what the Common Agricultural Policy was about in the past as to how we would manage that artificial pricing and support of food production in the European Union to keep our farmers intact, to keep rural communities alive but also to recognise the fact that food production in the European Union was different to other parts of the world and the debate is still around how we keep that quality intact but it's also seeking a new dimension now which is how do we increase volumes also and how do we increase volumes under the kind of new and extraordinary pressures that we now know about that make it more difficult to do that. Climate change being probably at the centre of that but not just climate change there are other issues also that I want to refer to here so the context for this is actually a very simple one to understand. The demand for food is growing and will continue to grow at an extraordinary rate year on year and the question is how do we meet that global demand for food. Back in and people will have heard me say this before but back in 1960 there were three billion people on this planet by 1990 that that number had doubled to six billion people we're now just under seven billion people by 2050 the figure will be nine billion people and not only that but the population of the world in itself apart from the growing number is actually moving into towns and cities so it's urbanising and with that people are becoming what have been you know rural dwellers often relying on a pretty simple diet around carbohydrates are now moving into towns and cities they are becoming middle-class people who are demanding more choice more options and a better diet around protein and as has been referred to by the previous speakers that creates an extraordinary both obligation and opportunity for countries like Ireland that has the capacity to produce more food at a consistently high quality to actually meet that demand but I think that there are a number of things that need to be recognised if we're going to be allowed to do that. First of all and this may be slightly controversial for for some of you in my view the European Union is giving fantastic leadership on the climate change debate in most areas but when it comes to complex relationship between food production and climate change in my view EU policy is all wrong. We have taken a fairly simplistic approach towards setting climate change targets for the European Union by breaking it up into targets for each country and Ireland has signed up and has a legal obligation to meet the targets that we signed up to which is it in rough terms a 20% reduction in emissions by 2020 outside of the ETS sector but outside of the traded sector agriculture makes up more than 45% of our emissions so on the one hand we have this extraordinary demand on countries like Ireland to actually increase food production and at the same time we are saying that 40% of our emissions problem comes from an area where we're going to be seeking potentially significant reductions in terms of emissions and so there is this assumption made that if somehow Ireland reduces its agricultural output in order to meet climate change targets that we're somehow doing something positive for the climate change targets that are being set globally when in fact what we're simply doing is moving food production out of a country like Ireland to somewhere else in the world we're outsourcing the problem which makes European figures look good in terms of emission targets but is doing little or nothing in fact in my view has a negative contribution to make towards global emissions so this isn't the same as transport or home heating or some other sector that has a climate change challenge also if you switch your car from a petrol or diesel driven engine to a to an electric engine you are doing something positive to actually reduce the emissions going into the global atmosphere if you're a farmer that's forced to reduce your herd size so that Ireland can meet its emissions targets you will simply transfer that meat production to somewhere else in the world more than likely outside of the European Union and so we will look good in terms of our figures from a climate change point of view but the global emissions simply gets transferred from one country to another and in many cases from an Irish perspective gets transferred to a country that is less efficient from an emissions point of view so I think we need to create a much more sophisticated and honest debate around the relationship between food production and our obligation as a European Union to increase food output as well as keep price consistency and quality consistency of food production in the European Union and take a responsible approach towards climate change now that being said we can do a lot to reduce the emissions from from food production and we are we have an obligation to do that and R&D and science will put Ireland at the forefront of that challenge and I met this week with the New Zealand Minister for Agriculture and he reflects an awful lot of my views in this area and they are doing a lot of interesting research at the moment in essence how you breed into cattle a reduction in in methane release essentially from the front and back end to be overly specific about it and and they are getting some really interesting results from that so so we can do a lot to actually play our part in reducing emissions from from the food sector but but the first driver here in my view has to be our responsibility as a European Union and as a country towards contributing to actually feeding the world who will need 70% more food in volume terms between now and 2050 and that is the awesome opportunity that this exporting country has in terms of food markets and in terms of expansion so what are we doing about that there's two things really first of all we are lobbying hard to actually create a new debate in terms of the the common agricultural policy agenda and it is more than likely that Ireland will hold the EU presidency for the first half of 2013 when the common agricultural policy review is finalized and that puts us in a very influential position in terms of the context and the direction and the and the end result that that we get from CAP and I think the the start of the real CAP debate began last week when we got an idea as to what the opening position from the European Commission is in terms of the the starting point as regards the percentage of EU budget going towards the the common agricultural policy and the the food and agriculture agenda and I think that that is a reasonable starting point from an Irish perspective it is maintaining the levels of support that are there in actual terms into the future and I think that that is is a reasonable starting point considering where the political debate was six and eight months ago when there were a lot of people lobbying hard for a dramatic reduction in supports for primary primary food food production so we've come a long way and I think over the next 18 months we will continue to travel a further distance to actually reinforce this message that food food production food security is something that needs a support and encouragement within the European Union rather than anything else from an Irish perspective we have in my view a fantastic document and a set of targets that the industry and farmers and government are all working to it's called food harvest 2020 many of you will be very familiar with its detail but essentially this came about by stakeholders in the industry writing a document that is ambitious but realistic in terms of growing the food industry in Ireland and its contribution to the Irish economy over the next 10 years and there is significant government buy into that and it's one of the really good things that the last government did they they facilitated the setting of not only targets but also a roadmap to get us to those targets and it's my job now to to pick up that baton to set targets on a quarterly basis for the implementation group around food harvest 2020 and to continue to drive that agenda amongst all of the players in the food sector not just one element of them and that that project is is about to get its its first-year scorecard written next week or early the week after and I think that people should be quite excited by the results of that we have already upgraded the targets as regards beef and just to give you a flavor what we're talking about here is increasing food production in Ireland by 30% and 33% in volume terms that's a third by 2020 and in value terms increasing the value of Irish food by 40% and they are very realistic targets in the beef sector the targets within food harvest 2020 was for a 20% increase in the output value coming from the beef sector by 2020 we've already achieved a 10% increase an output value of beef in Ireland because of the increase of beef prices over the last 18 months and so we've upgraded that target now to a 40% value output increase by by 2020 and we will look at the other targets as well and change as appropriate but the the underlying story here is one of opportunity for an industry that already has really deep foundations in place for expansion and growth over the last three to four decades the Irish food industry has grown it has built stone upon stone if you like in a very solid way and we have an extraordinary platform and infrastructure now upon which to lean to actually build a really ambitious program of expansion and growth seeking out new markets both within the European Union and further afield in a way that in my view can offer fantastic growth and jobs potential and become the big good news story for the Irish economy I mean 60% of output from indigenous countries in Ireland our companies in Ireland comes from the food sector last year we saw an 11% growth in food exports out of Ireland up to almost 8 billion euros by 2020 we want that figure to be 12 billion to put it really simply Ireland as an island of 6 million people produces enough food for 36 million people by 2020 we want that figure to be 50 million people and when you consider that world population is growing by a million and a half a week at the moment you begin to realize that actually the contribution that we want to make towards feeding the world's population is actually a very modest one even if we meet all of our targets in food harvest 2020 and so the next question you have to ask yourself is well what segment of the market are we actually targeting as a country because Ireland even though we are increasing volumes we're not really in the volume business we're not like countries like you know Brazil and and other countries that have extraordinary volume potential in terms of output Ireland is a little bit different we do need to increase volumes but we also need to insist on maintaining and improving the Irish brand around quality and consistency and safety of Irish food and that in my view will allow us not only to increase the the amount that we're exporting but also to to target a premium sector that can come that can command a premium price and I'm talking about products like baby infant formula that mothers will pay more for because they see an Irish brand on the carton because they associate it with safety and so price isn't the main driver when you're talking about feeding an infant 16% of every of all infant formula consumed in the globe at the moment is produced in Ireland 16% one in every six or seven babies that are drinking from a bottle as we speak are drinking an Irish product because consumers want that product because they associated with quality and consistency something that they can rely on if you look at at a market like China that has a 20% growth rate in demand for infant formula year on year at the moment there is extraordinary potential for Ireland to expand into that market because of the brand that we have there at the moment New Zealand are taking advantage of that but Irish product is in equal demand but it's just not an equal supply and as a result of that and responding to it we see you know a very significant a building project to to increase infant formula just outside of McCroome as we speak at the moment Danone in McCroome produced 35,000 tons of infant formula each year within the next 18 months that'll be over 100,000 tons a year that's good business it's good opportunity for dairy farmers it's more opportunity for milk processors it's more competition for raw product for milk which will potentially drive up the the price which is good from a dairy farmer point of view but is is a challenge in terms of the competitiveness of the price of milk for the industry as a whole but you don't have to look as far as China for demand growth for food if you look at our beef industry which represents our biggest exports in terms of volume and in terms of value within the European Union the biggest importer of beef in the European Union is Germany they import 400,000 tons of beef a year Ireland is the biggest exporter of beef in the European Union last year we only exported 7,000 tons to Germany of their 400,000 tons imported this year we're hoping that that figure will nearly double and there's a reason why that figure is so low it's a hangover from BSE 12 years ago and we are coming out of that shadow now in fact we are out of that shadow and in the sunshine in terms of the reputation around the quality and safety of Irish beef now and we will take advantage of that last week I was in London meeting some Irish food companies there some buyers there and some of the agencies working to market Irish food in London last year we exported 3.6 billion euros of food to the UK we imported 2.7 billion euros of food we have this extraordinary trade relationship around food with the United Kingdom that in my view can be built on and grown this is our closest but also by far our most important and biggest market so the the the issues here are not about will there be demand for the product there is extraordinary demand for what we produce both within the European Union and outside it the demand is almost infinite in countries like India and China and Indonesia and so on as their populations grow as their middle-class populations grow and as as they demand the kind of dietary lifestyle that we have come accustomed to they want what we produce and they will pay for it and they will pay a premium for it if they think that they are buying a premium product and that is the market that we must target as farmers as processors as big food companies that are actually carving out those markets for themselves and taking advantage of them we must instill in every farmer in Ireland that they are producing something for a consumer somewhere else in the world not producing a raw product for a processor down the road so that we instill in everybody this mentality of Ireland being the best at what we do in the food sector and that will contribute to building the brand in a positive way that we rely on to actually forge new opportunities in new markets let's be clear on this 80% of everything we produce in this country from a food point of view needs to find a home outside of Ireland and we need to persuade somebody to pay for it that means that the brand that surrounds our food products is something that we must protect at all costs which means that my department and the agencies that work with us must enforce and encourage standards all of the time and so that is the times inconvenient in terms of the bureaucracy involved the form-filling involved the inspections involved and so on but there is a purpose behind all of that and the purpose is exploiting the opportunities for selling premium product at a premium price in other parts of the world that attach something just a little bit special to what we produce from Ireland and that's happening and that's why Kerry group have grown the way they have that's why other Irish food companies are continuing to grow and expand the way they have and indeed in the in the drinks sector where the the reputation is is around something a little bit different but it's also around quality they are expanding the way they are expanding also and people don't talk about drink very often but I mean if you look at the whiskey market at the moment the fastest growing whiskey brand in Europe in the world at the moment is Jemisin they have double digit growth in 36 different countries as we speak that is the kind of potential that Irish food products and Irish drinks products have if we put the right branding around them and if we give them that the necessary supports to actually make that happen and food harvest 2020 is our template for that development and pathways for growth is the actual business plan to get us there and we have politicians academics business people farmers and every other stakeholder in the food sector involved in that journey with us and so we're all as Irish people would say pulling in the one direction and that is why agriculture and agri food is going to be and is already a good news story for the Irish economy even in the midst of recession that is why it's growing it's employing more people it's creating more wealth than at any stage in the past Irish exports last year were higher in value terms and value terms than at any time during the boom years and so we we need to ensure that that we do everything we can to exploit the sustainable potential of food production in Ireland and I have a challenge in terms of the political challengers around CAP and climate change targets on a whole series of other things you have a challenge also as stakeholders in the food sector to meet the targets that are being set for you in food harvest 2020 whether you're a processor or a farmer and we need to work together in partnership to make the growth potential of the food sector a reality year on year and not just allow a report that has targets set for 2020 to sit on the shelf until then so I look forward to that journey and that challenge with you I am absolutely committed to it I intend on being a champion for the agri food sector as long as I'm in this job and I hope that you will send your comments your criticisms your solutions to remove barriers to to progress as and when they develop because I obviously and this government and this is a team coming straight from the T-shirt we want to hear from people that have solutions so that we can implement them or at least look at the option of implementing them to try and release the potential that is there in so many sectors of the Irish economy that's being frustrated at the moment but from my perspective it's the agri food sector and we are pressing ahead in a very exciting and ambitious way and I hope that that journey will continue because I think the Irish economy needs good news stories like the one that we're providing at the moment so thank you very much for listening