asked the Minister for Agriculture and Food if farmers who lease their milk quotas which are under 50,000 gallons will be exempt from any clawback conditions.
Written Answers. - Milk Quotas.
53.
As I already announced, I have decided that in line with a recommendation from the Quota Review Group, the threshold under which no clawback would apply in the case of leases will be raised from the existing level of 25,000 gallons to 50,000 gallons. My Department is arranging for any necessary changes to be made in the regulations so that the measure can come into effect from the commencement of the new quota year on 1 April next.
54.
asked the Minister for Agriculture and Food if farmers who supplied milk to creameries up to and including 1981 and who have had to cease production owing to various reasons can now be facilitated with a quota from his Department.
I presume that the Deputy is referring to those producers who are eligible for a quota allocation under the terms of the recent Council of Ministers decision which took account of the judgment made by the European Court of Justice in the Mulder case. Under the Council decision allocations of quota can only take place when all the applications have been examined and processed. As applicants have up to a date within three months of the publication of the regulation to submit their requests, the provisional quota allocations to eligible producers will not take place for some time yet.