Michael Martin, new leader of Irish governing party Fianna Fail, has declared the country's agri-food sector is central to employment plans.

He declared the industry contributes substantially to economic growth and noted it employs an estimated 160,000 workers, the Irish Times reports.

According to Mr Martin, his party is committed to generating thousands of new positions in Ireland through policies including investment in research and new export markets.

Speaking during a visit to a beef and dairy farm in County Cork, he noted it is important to offer support to companies operating in the marketing and processing of agri-food products.

The minister outlined targets for the sector, including growth in agriculture, fisheries and forestry primary output of €1.5 billion by 2020.

Ireland's unemployment rate stood at 13.4 per cent in January 2011, down from 13.6 per cent the previous month, recent data published by the Central Statistics Office showed.

Posted by Alex Donnell