Vol. 479 No. 2
370 Mr. B. Smith asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and Forestry the progress, if any, which has been made to date in relation to the proposal to provide additional milk quotas in the Border region under the EU's programme for peace and reconciliation; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [12857/97]
Any initiative which would lead to the allocation of additional quota to milk producers in the Border counties would have my full support.
This matter has been discussed between officials of my Department, the United Kingdom's Ministry for Agriculture, Food and Fisheries and the Department of Agriculture for Northern Ireland. I also raised this matter directly with the UK Minister for Agriculture and I have also met the cross-Border milk quota action group.
However, it will be appreciated that the success of an initiative of this nature will be dependent not only on the circumstances and timing of its presentation at EU level, but also, of course, on the position taken by the United Kingdom authorities.
