The agricultural industry benefited from last year’s foot-and-mouth crisis by over €100 million, a new report has revealed.
According to a report released today by the Minister for Agriculture, Mr Walsh on the economic impact of foot-and-mouth disease, the crisis increased the value of agri-food exports by €63m and second round or multiplier effect would have added a further €44m to the agriculture sector.
The tourism industry suffered an estimated loss of €210 million with the number of visitors to Ireland and their length of stay falling in the first half of last year. While total revenue from tourism was up on the previous year, the likelihood is that the revenue would have been higher if the foot-and-mouth crisis had not occurred.
The study into the potential and actual economic impact of foot-and-mouth on various sectors, commissioned by the Minister, revealed that any potential losses to the agriculture sector were off-set by firmer meat prices and increased exports.
Foot-and-mouth disease cost the Exchequer €107 million, of which €44 million was spent by the Department of Agriculture on monitoring and controls, culling of livestock and compensation. A further €50 million was incurred in respect of Garda costs and €13 was provided for the promotion of Irish tourism.
The report also estimated the likely economic impact of the disease if control measures had not been put in place and there had been a widespread outbreak of foot-and-mouth in this country.
The report estimated that a widespread outbreak could reduce GDP by between €1 billion and €5.6 billion through the impact on the agriculture sector.
The number of jobs lost could range from 550, in a best-case scenario of a 3 month export ban, to over 12,000 in the case of a 24 month ban.
The report also suggested there would also have been long-term damage to the reputation of the Irish agri-food sector which is valued at €9 billion annually.