Meat Industry Ireland (MII) and Dairy Industry Ireland (DII) are backing a call by Ibec for an annual fund of €225m to support businesses affected by Brexit.

In its pre-budget submission, Food Drink Ireland (FDI) said a fund worth 5% of the value of current export sales to the UK would be needed for three years. Currently €4.5bn worth of Irish food and drink exports go to the UK.

In the event of a no-deal Brexit and the immediate imposition of tariffs, decisive steps would need to be taken

FDI director Paul Kelly said the fund should be sourced from domestic and EU sources to help companies “innovate, diversify into new markets, train staff and invest for the future”.

The investment for the future would be in the form of carbon efficiency, plant renewal and expansion geared at making companies more competitive.

Exports

Kelly said: “€4.5bn worth of food and drink exports go to the UK. In the event of a no-deal Brexit and the immediate imposition of tariffs, decisive steps would need to be taken.

“Tariffs are in effect a tax on trade and commerce and FDI is calling for their recycling into a tariff stabilisation fund to offset serious damage to exports and job losses.”

He said every Brexit scenario was negative for the food and drink sector.

The UK as a percentage of overall exports for the sector has dropped to 37% in recent years. However, in value terms it has continued to increase, up 32% since 2010.

FDI said this demonstrated the importance of not relinquishing Irish market position in a “high-value, high-quality market that has a substantial food deficit”.

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