Dairy Industry Ireland welcomes publication of the Food Vision Dairy Report

The publication of the Food Vision Dairy report allows Irish Dairy to further increase and enhance its competitive advantage in global markets, according to Dairy Industry Ireland (DII), the Ibec association representing the Irish dairy and specialised nutrition sector. It can do this with meaningful and advanced climate action while sustaining the economic opportunity for Ireland, and in rural Ireland particularly.
 
DII particularly welcomed the strong stakeholder engagement in shaping the recommendations of the report designed to address the significant agriculture climate change target of 25% reduction by 2030 agreed by the government over the summer.
 
Director of Dairy Industry Ireland, Conor Mulvihill commented: “This is the beginning of a new phase of delivery and implementation to transform the Irish dairy sector in line with the vision and philosophy of Food Vision 2030. We will be consulting with member processors with a view to bringing forward individual strategies in line with the 19 recommendations of the report.
 
“The industry and its family farm suppliers have been driving programs for some time. It has further ambitious programs set out for the next decade and wishes to be integral to Ireland’s climate and economic journey. To achieve this, clear funding and policy mechanisms to help farmers meet these targets must be set out urgently by Government through Carbon Sink farming, National funding and EU schemes through the Green Deal & CAP. 
 
“The Irish dairy industry is investing in technology and process improvement to meet changing consumer preferences and environmental obligations including water quality, biodiversity, and energy ,but clarity and fairness on targets and carbon accounting treatments are a critical start to this journey. We will work with the arms of the state, on a whole of Government/whole of sector basis to deliver on Ireland’s agriculture sustainability objectives and we call on government to give appropriate supports to enable us to positively achieve these targets and protect the social and economic sustainability of rural Ireland.”