28.05.2009
The Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Food speaking on May 21st 2009 confirmed that the Food Graduate Development Programme (www.foodpostgrad.ie) was to continue for another two years. Funding of €1.1million was allocated for the initiative in 2007 for a five-year period, subject to a review after the first 18 months of its existence. Following this review Minister Smith has sanctioned funding for years 3 and 4 of the Programme, which is funded by the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food under the Food Institutional Research Measure (FIRM).
The Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Food Brendan Smith TD has emphasised the critical importance of investment in research and development in the development of the Irish food industry and, particularly, in maintaining the industry’s competitiveness. The Minister, speaking on May 21st 2009, said that it was important that, not alone, did the industry continue to produce very high-quality food products, but that it did so competitively to ensure that retailers and consumers would continue to support quality Irish food products and Irish jobs.
Minister Smith described the agri-food sector as Ireland’s most important indigenous sector, providing hundreds of thousands of jobs throughout every county in the country, at both producer and processor levels. “The industry is vital to our economic future, particularly at this time, in terms of employment, value-added and export earnings. The industry is, undoubtedly, facing challenges but has demonstrated its resilience and capacity to adapt to competitive challenges in the past and to build business in emerging and changing markets”, Minister Smith added.
Minister Smith confirmed that developing the Irish food industry in line with the strategy set out in the Agri-Vision 2015 Report remains a priority for his Department. “Investment in research and development is a cornerstone of this strategy and initiatives like the graduate development programme will accelerate the path towards building a knowledge economy. The Programme is helping to develop a skilled workforce to meet the competitive challenges facing the food sector”.
The Food Graduate Development Programme has been developed by University College Cork (UCC), University College Dublin (UCD) and Teagasc as a joint initiative to provide skills training to postgraduate students and research staff in Universities and Research institutions in Ireland engaged in food research projects funded under the FIRM measure. The project co-ordinator is Professor Mike Gibney, Professor of Food and Health at UCD, and the Director of Training is Professor Alan Kelly, Dean of Graduate Studies at UCC. Over 120 postgraduate students had attended the six modules delivered to date and there was a general acceptance that the modules were of high quality and had substantial industry involvement in their content and delivery.
Professor Alan Kelly stated that the programme was a pioneering example of how inter-institutional co-operation can deliver ambitious structures to facilitate the development of structured PhD programmes, which would deliver graduates that combine research excellence with a range of skills of direct relevance to high-level careers in the national economy. Feedback from staff and students involved in the programme has been excellent, demonstrating clearly both the feasibility and benefits of such approaches.
Picture shows: Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Food Brendan Smith TD, Professor Alan Kelly, UCC and Professor Mike Gibney, UCD.
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