Ireland’s food industry met for its annual innovation forum at Croke Park in Dublin on Tuesday. The Enterprise Ireland -led conference is a chance for the State agency to remind companies operating in various subsectors about the supports available from research and development tax credits to innovation vouchers.
That message was sent out loud and clear by Minister for Agriculture Martin Heydon , who told the conference that business spend on R&D within the Irish food and beverage sector was stubbornly low compared to our main competitors.
Only about 0.7 per cent of the industry’s turnover is spent on such activities, a stark figure for one as strategically important to the economy as food and drink. That’s well below the 1 per cent level the Government has targeted in its Food Vision 2030 strategy.
It’s also “way below other sectors of the economy”, the Fine Gael TD for Kildare South said.
It’s hard to disagree with the minister when you glance at the scale of the State’s intervention in the industry.
Apart from the aforementioned tax credits and voucher schemes, he said his department had invested €56 million into food research as part of its 2020-2030 strategy.
This includes a €10.4 million investment in Teagasc’s National Prepared Consumer Food Centre in Ashtown, Dublin, as well as funding for the agency’s €2.3 million national brewing and distilling research centre at Oakpark in Carlow.
“We can help de-risk investment,” Heydon said, challenging the industry to make greater use of what’s available. “But, ultimately, innovation requires businesses to make the investment and prioritise research and innovation.”
It seems the Government can lead the food and beverage industry to water, but hasn’t been able to make it drink. And by the sounds of it, it shouldn’t expect any major new initiatives in Budget 2027 .