One in eight jobs in the Irish economy are now linked to agri-food and drink, a new report from Food Drink Ireland, the Ibec group that represents the food and drink industry, shows.
The new Food Drink Ireland report outlines the main strategic challenges and opportunities to be considered by policymakers for the industry over the next 10 years.
The group said that sustaining growth in the sector is imperative for sustaining the growth of the wider economy.
Paul Kelly, Director of Food Drink Ireland, said the industry's competitiveness has declined at a time when both opportunities and challenges are increasing.
Mr Kelly said that from a competitive standpoint, Irish infrastructure costs including labour, energy, waste, environment and other business compliance and regulatory costs are significantly out of step against many of the EU competitor economies
Costs in general facing the sector have increased by 11% from their trough in 2011 with half of those increases coming in the past two years.
"Combined with the sharp depreciation of sterling since 2015, there has been a 30% increase in the cost of serving the UK market," Mr Kelly stated.
He also stressed the importance of ensuring the effective implementation of the Climate Action Plan in order to support the ambition of the industry.
"The food and drink industry is the only major industrial sector with a full domestic supply chain from farm to fork," he said.
"The sustainability credentials of the industry must be recognised and supported, particularly the introduction of carbon abatement measures and reductions in single use plastics and food waste," he added.
