Dan Neville
Question:191 Mr. Neville asked the Minister for Agriculture and Food the criteria for allocating milk quota from the national reserve 2003. [11695/03]
Written Answers. - Milk Quota.
The allocation of milk quota from the national reserve is granted on the basis of recommendations from the Milk Quota Appeals Tribunal. The tribunal is a body established to consider applications for additional quota from individual producers who have suffered severe hardship in the context of the milk quota system. Details of the 2003-04 scheme will be announced later this year and application forms will be available from co-operatives and from milk policy division, Department of Agriculture and Food, Kildare Street, Dublin 2.
While every application is treated in a fair and sympathetic manner, the amount of quota available for allocation is limited in the context of the large numbers of applications that are submitted and therefore the tribunal is not always in a position to recommend the allocation of quota to an applicant.
The tribunal gives priority to the following categories of producers: small scale producers whose entitlement to purchase quota under recent milk quota restructuring schemes was limited; younger dairy farmers with small milk quotas; producers whose butter fat representative levels are very low; and producers who are in financial difficulty.
In assessing these applications, the tribunal takes account of the following factors: current quota size; off-farm income and-or other farm enterprises; size of holding; family circumstances, including succession; commitment to dairying; and previous allocations from the national reserve.