A National Consumer Liaison Committee is to be established within weeks by the Department of Agriculture, Food and Rural Development.
The committee, which will have representatives from all sectors of society, is part of an initiative contained in the third Statement of Strategy published by the Department yesterday.
There will also be regional panels set up to feed information to the Department on topics including food safety and animal welfare.
Announcing the three-year strategy yesterday, the Minister for Agriculture, Mr Walsh, said the European model of agriculture and rural development acknowledged the linkages between the agri-food sector, rural development, the protection of the environment, cultural heritage, landscape and the variety, safety and quality of food production.
He said the Department's mission was to lead to the development of a competitive, sustainable and consumer-focused agri-food sector and a vibrant rural economy and society.
He said Ireland could have a sustainable and vibrant agricultural economy without damaging the rural environment.
The Department, he said, had funded a number of studies on competitiveness in agriculture and the first of these would be publish early next year.
Mr John Malone, the secretary general of the Department, said that as part of the change in management process, a new organisational structure had been put in place this year in the Department.
The eleven functional areas had been divided into four broad groupings, agricultural payments, food safety and production, policy and corporate development.
He said there would be regional panels, comprising a wide cross section of consumers, to feed information to the Department on a broad range of issues.
A new financial accounting system had also been put in place to keep controls on expenditure and checks on the £2 billion annual spend by the Department, according to Mr Malone.
The Department's new logo, a farmyard gate, was also revealed yesterday by the Minister.