Business lobby Ibec yesterday described last Wednesday's Budget as a "missed opportunity" for the food sector and said it had failed to give it enough help to deal with rising energy costs.
Last month, a pre-Budget submission from Food and Drink Industry Ireland (FDII) - which is affiliated to Ibec - called on the Government to increase excise relief for conventional fuels and to extend the biofuels excise relief scheme.
"The Budget was a missed opportunity to increase the excise relief scheme for biofuels announced last year and show ambition in meeting the EU target for biofuels of 5.75 per cent of the total fuel market by 2010," FDII director Paul Kelly said yesterday. Minister for Finance Brian Cowen announced the extension of the tax relief scheme for corporate investment in biomass technology for another five years, but Mr Kelly said it was inadequate.
"The stark reality is that the sector will have to continue to rely heavily on conventional fuels and in this regard, the lack of any excise relief on these fuels was very disappointing."
Mr Kelly said that energy prices had risen by up to 50 per cent in the last 18 months, equivalent to 5-10 per cent of operating profits for most food firms.
"The Government needs to sit up and listen to the concerns of industry," he added. "The food and drink industry is Ireland's largest indigenous exporting sector and tens of thousands of jobs are at stake."
