Published on Thursday13thApril2017

Ministers Launch Report On Future Skills Needs In The Food And Drink Sector

20170313 Ag Jobs

Jobs Minister Mary Mitchell O’Connor and Agriculture Minister Michael Creed launching the 2017 Report on Future Skills Needs in the Food and Drink Sector

Agriculture Minister Michael Creed and Jobs Minister Mary Mitchell O’Connor today launched the 2017 Report on Future Skills Needs in the Food and Drink Sector.

Food Wise 2025, the ten year strategy for the agri food sector underlines the sector’s unique and special position within the Irish economy, and it illustrates the potential which exists for this sector to grow even further

The Departments of Agriculture, Food and the Marine and the Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation worked closely to update the report, and jointly hosted a Food and Drinks Skills Workshop in November last year.

The 2017 Report Future Skills Needs in the Food and Drink Sector identifies twelve recommendations under the headings of coordination, internships & apprenticeships, on-the-job training and languages. These recommendations will be reported on a bi-annual basis.

Minister Creed explained:

Progress on the implementation of these recommendations will be presented to me as chair of the Food Wise 2025 High Level Implementation Committee (HLIC). These recommendations will help to ensure that the food industry attracts, retains and develops the right people with the right skills to achieve our Food Wise 2025 ambitions. In the context of Brexit, this is more important than ever. 

Minister Mitchell O’Connor said:

This report sets out 12 succinct recommendations to be carried out by a range of public and private sector actors. Working together, I believe we can achieve great things.

The full report is available at https://www.agriculture.gov.ie/foodwise2025/