Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine Simon Coveney has restated his personal commitment to driving forward the implementation phase of the Food Harvest 2020 report.
He said he wants to ensure that the targets are fully achieved and the potential of the agri-food and fishing sector is fully realised.
Minister Coveney said that as a minister with an enthusiasm for the agri-food and marine sectors, he is taking an active role to ensure that the targets in Food Harvest 2020 are not alone met, but exceeded.
The minister said that everywhere he goes throughout the country, he sees great potential and tremendous positivity in the agri-food and marine sectors.
He wants to see that positive attitude harnessed and turned into real economic growth, he said.
The minister was chairing a meeting of the implementation committee of the Harvest 2020 report, which was attended by key industry figures in the dairy, beef and consumer food sectors.
Mr Coveney told those present of his strong belief in the tremendous contribution that the agri-food and marine sectors can make to the country's economic recovery and job creation.
There are tremendous opportunities for the sector ahead, he said.
He wants to work closely with those in the industry to drive progress, achieve results and significantly grow the sector, by meeting or exceeding the targets of increasing the value of primary output by €1.5bn, value-added outputs by €3bn and exports to at least €12bn, he added.
