Vol. 416 No. 7
39 Mr. J. Higgins asked the Minister for Agriculture and Food if he accepts the principle that in any milk quota buy-out scheme, no region should lose a quota and that the relinquished quota should be distributed within its existing region.
42 Mr. J. Higgins asked the Minister for Agriculture and Food if he accepts the principle that in any milk quota buy-out scheme, no region should lose a quota and that the relinquished quota should be distributed within its existing region.
I propose to take Questions Nos. 39 and 42 together.
There is provision under the milk quota regulations for the restructuring of milk quotas at co-operative/dairy level. Such restructuring schemes, whereby producers sell their quotas to their own co-op/dairy for re-sale to other suppliers in the same co-op/dairy have been successfully operated for the past number of years. No scheme was, however, announced for the current year as Ireland was obliged to operate an EC Community-funded buy-up scheme. The percentage quota purchased under this buy-up scheme will be reallocated to all producers who suffered a quota reduction in the current year. This scheme provides for the distribution of the purchased quota on a national basis and furthermore the legal view of the EC Commission is that member states may take action to limit buy-up in individual areas only where the scheme is oversubscribed nationally. I am, however, considering how best to offset to some extent the imbalances between purchasing areas created by the way this scheme has worked out in practice. I have also asked the milk quota review group to consider the approach to be taken to the problem of disproportionate losses in the event of future Community buy-up schemes.
