THE AGRI-FOOD sector, which employs 160,000 people in Ireland, will be central to restoring economic growth and creating more employment over the next few years, Fianna Fáil leader Micheál Martin said yesterday.
Fianna Fáil was committed to creating thousands of new jobs through a range of measures from advanced research to opening up new export markets and providing direct capital support for marketing and processing, he said.
Launching Fianna Fáil’s agri-food policy during a visit to the mixed dairy and beef farm of Tomas and Denise O’Sullivan at Summerlea in Castletreasure near Douglas in Cork yesterday, Mr Martin set out the targets which he believes can be achieved within the sector by 2020.
Fianna Fáil believed it was possible to cumulatively increase the value of primary output in agriculture, fisheries and forestry by €1.5 billion by 2020, which would mark a 33 per cent increase on the average output between 2007 and 2009. Mr Martin also said the party would aim to increase the value added in the agri-food, fisheries and wood products sector by €3 billion by 2020 which would represent a 40 per cent increase on the value of the sector in 2008.
On the broader election battle, Mr Martin cautioned the electorate against voting for Independents, saying it was important that there was broad support within the next Dáil for policies to get the public finances on an even keel in order to stimulate investment in the economy.
An excessive number of Independents in the next Dáil could lead to a deviation from the policies set down by all the main parties and that would lead to the undermining of investor confidence in the country and would hamper a sustainable model of export-led growth, he said.
Earlier Mr Martin took issue with Fine Gael proposals announced by the party’s financial spokesman, Michael Noonan, to introduce an increase in mortgage interest relief for home owners in negative equity which could save them up to €166 a month.
Mr Martin said Fine Gael had yet to provide costings for the proposal though they had promised to do so this week but it seemed to him parties need to be careful “in an election campaign about making up policy on the hoof and responding to situations as Fine Gael have done”. Mr Martin said that Fianna Fáil had already brought forward a number of initiatives including a deferred interest scheme announced last month, which would address people’s genuine fears about repossessions and losing their homes.
Mr Martin said the Fine Gael proposal was focused on first-time buyers who bought houses between 2004 and 2008 but he didn’t believe that it should be targeted at specific age groups as people of all ages could find themselves in difficulty if they lose their job.
Fianna Fáil would be putting forward proposals based on an expert group report and he rejected Fine Gael’s plan to part fund the move by bringing forward the abolition of relief for new buyers from June 1st.
“I think that’s unfair to first-time buyers. That’s robbing Peter to pay Paul. We extended the mortgage interest relief specifically to cater for people who had bought at the cusp and were in difficulty and to enable them to survive the next couple of years.
“There’s no point in punishing one group in order to rescue another.”
