The Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Michael Creed TD, and the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation, Mary Mitchell O’Connor TD, recently launched the 2017 Report on Future Skills Needs in the Food and Drink Sector.
Food Wise 2025, the ten-year strategy for the agri-food sector underlines the sector’s unique and special position within the Irish economy, and it illustrates the potential which exists for this sector to grow even further. It identifies people in the agri-food sector as key to the sector’s future success. Food Wise 2025 recommended that the Expert Group be asked to update a previous report from 2009 on Future Skills Needs in the Food and Drinks sector.
The Departments of Agriculture, Food and the Marine and the Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation worked closely to update the report, and jointly hosted a Food and Drinks Skills Workshop in November last year. Min Creed stated, “this proved a very useful format, with stakeholders from the food and beverage industry, trade unions and academics discussing the skills gaps and needs facing the industry and gathering practical ideas of how to address these issues”.
The Minister continued “My Department hosted a similar event last week looking at skills gaps at the farm level, and will report its conclusions to the High-Level Implementation Committee”.
Minister Mitchell O’Connor stated: “The cooperation between our two Departments has been seamless, and a wide range of stakeholders from industry, public sector, academia and the unions have worked with us energetically throughout the project.”
The Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Michael Creed T.D and the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation, Mary Mitchell O’Connor T.D, recently launched the 2017 Report on Future Skills Needs in the Food and Drink Sector. (From L to R). Don O’Connor, Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation, Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation, Mary Mitchell O’Connor T.D. Siobhán Dowling, Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine, The Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Michael Creed T.D.
The 2017 Report Future Skills Needs in the Food and Drink Sector identifies twelve recommendations under the headings of coordination, internships & apprenticeships, on-the-job training, and languages. These recommendations will be reported on a bi-annual basis.
Minister Creed explained that “progress on the implementation of these recommendations will be presented to me as chair of the Food Wise 2025 High-Level Implementation Committee (HLIC). These recommendations will help to ensure that the food industry attracts, retains and develops the right people with the right skills to achieve our Food Wise 2025 ambitions. In the context of Brexit, this is more important than ever”.
Minister Mitchell O’Connor stated ‘this report sets out 12 succinct recommendations to be carried out by a range of public and private sector actors. Working together, I believe we can achieve great things’.
Minister Creed concluded. “I believe that this type of positive engagement with all relevant stakeholders and State agencies is key to identifying and responding effectively to the issues facing the sector”.
The full report is available at https://www.agriculture.gov.ie/foodwise2025/
