Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Charlie McConalogue T.D., today reminded stakeholders of the closing date of 15th June 2021 for submissions on the public consultation on the Strategic Environmental Assessment and Appropriate Assessment of the draft Agri-Food Strategy to 2030. The draft was prepared by a committee of stakeholders, chaired by Mr Tom Arnold, and facilitated by the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine. The finalisation and publication of the Strategy is one of the key priority actions of my Department’s Action Plan 2021.
In parallel with the work of the Committee, a Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA) and Appropriate Assessment (AA) were prepared independently by RSK Ireland Limited to determine the likely significant effects on the environment of implementing the Strategy. As part of this environmental assessment process, an eight-week public consultation is taking place to seek views on the SEA, the AA and the draft Strategy itself.
In reminding stakeholders of the ongoing consultation, the Minister stated, “I have been encouraged by the robust debates, discussions and opinions that have already been expressed by many stakeholders on the Environmental Assessment and the draft Strategy itself. The recent series of Food System Dialogues which my Department organised in conjunction with the Department of Foreign Affairs and the RDS were particularly useful in facilitating a variety of views to be heard.”
In order to facilitate further consultation on the Strategic Environmental Assessment and Appropriate Assessment, a webinar will be hosted by RSK Ireland Limited at 3pm on Tuesday 8th June. The webinar will discuss the SEA and AA process and will present the outcomes of the assessments. Speakers will include the consultants from RSK Environment who completed the assessments and Tom Arnold, the chair of the 2030 Stakeholder Committee. This will be followed by a question and answer session. Registration details for this webinar can be found here: attendee.gotowebinar.com/
