Creed fetes boost for food industry

THE Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Michael Creed, has welcomed the announcement by the European Commission of state aid clearance for a major capital investment scheme for the food industry.

“This approval, negotiated over the last two years by my Department officials, will provide opportunities for the food industry to make the significant investments required for product and market diversification. It represents a significant response by the Commission, working with Ireland to mitigate the effects of a significantly challenging external market environment (such as Brexit) for the industry,” said Minister Creed.

This approval will be of benefit to the primary dairy and meat processing industries, which are classified as ‘Annex 1’ products under EU legislation.

The detailed scheme of grant aid for food processing to implement this approval will be developed and administered by Enterprise Ireland.

Julie Sinnamon, CEO of Enterprise

Ireland said: “We welcome the announcement by the European Commission today which will provide some additional flexibility for food companies under state aid rules for capital investment.

“The scheme will support increased innovation and international competitiveness in the agriculture sector, and jobs in the regions, which will be particularly important in the context of Brexit”.

Meat Industry Ireland (MII) also welcomed the announcement. “MII has been pushing for a number of years for changes to State aid rules at EU level to allow for a meaningful investment initiative in meat processing as part of overall efforts to mitigate the impact of Brexit on the highly exposed meat sector” they said in a statement.

“The objective is to enable meat processors to engage in significant investment projects that will tackle competitiveness, assist the market diversification challenge and drive innovation in both products and processes.”