Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade, Helen McEntee is convening a meeting of the government trade forum today (Wednesday, April 22) with agri-food supports on the agenda.

The forum is considering a range of international developments, including the ongoing conflict in the Gulf region, EU-US trade and tariffs, free trade agreements, market diversification and the government’s infrastructure plans and progress. 

This is the twelfth meeting of the forum since its establishment. 

Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Martin Heydon is attending, along with Tánaiste and Minister of Finance, Simon Harris and Minister of State for European Affairs, Thomas Byrne, among others.

Agri-food

Speaking ahead of the meeting, Minister Heydon said that forum was being convened at a "very opportune time".

He said he would be updating colleagues today on supports for the agri-food sector, in light of the "energy shock that there has been", as this "really matters from a trade perspective".

Speaking about the support package announced for farmers and contractors, Minister Heydon said there had been a "series of meetings" with representatives from the agriculture sector including contractors before the major protests happened across the country this month.

He said: "We were working through the design of a scheme. That takes time, it wasn't ready for that first package of €250 million but we said said at that time it was government's first intervention as a result of the energy shock, it wouldn't be our last".

Minister Heydon said that in terms of farmers and contractors, "their cost base impacts the cost of food and that really does impact the cost of living and the impact on inflation for the wider economy".

"I understand the frustration that has been there. I'm dealing with farmers and farm representative bodies and individual groups all of the time," the minister said.

"I understand the real concern there was; we are in the most intensive period of the year from a food production perspective in terms of use of green diesel and that's why the €100 million I secured is the first time we will have direct intervention targeted at farm contractors.

He said there were a "number of options" open to him in terms of the €100 million, and how quickly he could get the money to farmers.

"We could have had a quicker payment that would have been on a flat rate basis or hectare, but that wouldn't have cognisance of energy usage and the majority view across farm organisation bodies was it was very important that a scheme be designed that's based on usage, that targets those most intensive energy users in the agri sector."

Minister Heydon also addressed comments made by former Taoiseach Leo Varadkar on a recent podcast appearance.

The minister said Varadkar's comments "were wrong" and that farmers have a "disproportionately positive effect on economic activity in rural areas and that's really important".

'Cannot be complacent'

Speaking ahead of the meeting today, Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade, Helen McEntee said the economic outlook for Ireland remains strong, but "we cannot be complacent about issues arising".

"We have seen real economic impacts from the events in the Gulf region, especially on energy," she said. 

"Government is very clear that our emphasis is firmly on dialogue with established representative groups and this is why we have a trade forum."

In reference to Ireland’s market diversification agenda, Minister McEntee said "when it comes to trade, it is important that we control what we can and promote Ireland and Irish business at every opportunity".

She added: “I also welcome the new EU free trade agreement with Australia, which is another great opportunity for market diversification for Irish business, including exporters and service providers.

“Regarding EU-US trade, I will provide an update on Section 301 investigations and tariffs, notably in relation to pharmaceuticals, steel and aluminium. We are keeping the situation under close scrutiny as it develops.”