asked the Minister for Agriculture and Food the number of Irish Mulder judgment cases which were in non-marketing or cessation schemes which ended before 1 October 1983; and the provisions which will be made for them to restore quota.
Written Answers. - Milk Quotas.
68.
The number of Irish farmers whose non-marketing period expired prior to 1 October 1983 is about 350, of whom 140 had applied for a quota allocation. Some of these might, in any event, have been excluded under the other criteria laid down by the EC Council of Ministers.
In the Council negotiations I had sought to ensure that no farmer would be excluded because of the date of expiry of his non-marketing period. However other member states were adamant that there had to be a cut-off date of 31 December 1983 in order to accord with the terms of the judgment in the European Court of Justice. In the event, I succeeded in obtaining Council agreement to a date of 30 September 1983 specifically for Ireland because of our particular pattern of milk production. In the case of the other member states the date of 31 December applies.
In my view the agreement reached represents a reasonable compromise between the rights of `Mulder case' producers and the protection of existing producers. As the Council decision does not make any provision for quotas for producers whose non-marketing period expired prior to 1 October 1983, the only way in which they could be granted additional quotas is from a national reserve, set up either by Government funding, or by deductions from the quotas of existing producers — neither of which is a practical possibility.