Capital grant for Northern Ireland food manufacturing is an urgent priority
The call follows the announcement of a €100million capital investment scheme by the Republic of Ireland government with a 30% support rate for RoI food manufacturing companies.
Advertisement
Hide AdAdvertisement
Hide AdWales, Scotland and England already have similar schemes in place with support rates of between 20-40%.
The fact that Northern Ireland companies cannot avail of such funding puts them at a significant competitive disadvantage, according to NIFDA’s Executive Director Michael Bell. “We have spent three years lobbying for this grant and despite our best efforts the process was halted last summer following the rejection of a proposal submitted to the Assembly,” said Mr Bell.
“There were 15 or more business cases submitted to Invest Northern Ireland. Most of these cases were delayed while our competitors are marching on with the backing of their respective Governments and repositioning themselves with our customers. Our closest competitors also benefit from significant funding for food export marketing, which again we do not have. This is competitive disadvantage in the starkest sense. This weakness is obviously further magnified with Covid-19 and Brexit.
Advertisement
Hide AdAdvertisement
Hide Ad“A capital grant scheme will drive innovation, productivity and enable the Northern Ireland Food & Drink Industry to win value-added business.
“This is a priority that is also understood by our farming community and the UFU have been steadfast with NIFDA in highlighting this weakness to the Department of the Economy here in Northern Ireland. This is our most urgent and clear ask. We therefore call on Minister Dodds to urgently address this strategic weakness our industry has been subject to here in Northern Ireland.”
A message from the Editor:
Thank you for reading this story on our website. While I have your attention, I also have an important request to make of you.
Advertisement
Hide AdAdvertisement
Hide AdIn order for us to continue to provide high quality and trusted local news on this free-to-read site, I am asking you to also please purchase a copy of our newspaper whenever you are able to do so.
Our journalists are highly trained and our content is independently regulated by IPSO to some of the most rigorous standards in the world. But being your eyes and ears comes at a price. So we need your support more than ever to buy our newspapers during this crisis.
With the coronavirus lockdown having a major impact on many of our local valued advertisers - and consequently the advertising that we receive - we are more reliant than ever on you helping us to provide you with news and information by buying a copy of our newspaper when you can safely.
Advertisement
Hide AdAdvertisement
Hide AdYou can also enjoy unlimited access to the best news from across Northern Ireland and the UK by subscribing to newsletter.co.uk
With a digital subscription, you can read more than five articles, see fewer ads, enjoy faster load times, and get access to exclusive newsletters and content. Visit https://www.newsletter.co.uk/subscriptions now to sign up.
Thank you