Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 22 February 2012
219 Deputy Seamus Kirk asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the position regarding his negotiations with the EU on the proposed national milk quota increase for the transitional years between now and 2015; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [10179/12]
View answerOver the past year, I and my Department have been extremely active in raising the question of an adjustment to the milk quota regime at every appropriate opportunity. We have made determined efforts to secure a soft landing for all Member States in the lead-up to milk quota abolition in 2015, as envisaged in the 2008 CAP Health Check agreement. I have discussed the matter extensively with other EU Agriculture Ministers, including in bilateral meetings with my Danish, French, German and Estonian counterparts. Furthermore, officials from my Department have raised this issue at EU level meetings, and at bi-lateral meetings with other Member States. We will continue to pursue this matter over the coming months.
Among the options discussed in relation to a soft landing are the front-loading of the remaining quota increases, a reduction in the super levy, a further reduction in butterfat correction levels, or a kind of EU flexi-milk arrangement which would operate provided EU production overall was within quota. Most attention has been focussed on the butterfat correction, and in December a coalition of Member States involving Ireland, Denmark, the Netherlands, Belgium and Cyprus formally put a specific proposal to the Special Committee for Agriculture for an adjustment to the butterfat correction mechanism.
Unfortunately, the Commission has consistently resisted attempts to reconsider this issue, as it has resisted attempts to revisit the outcome of the 2008 CAP Health Check in an overall sense. This is a view which is supported by a number of Member States, some of which are firmly against any further adjustment to the Health Check agreement. It is also the case that only a minority of Member states is likely to be adversely affected by the current quota restrictions, and therefore persuading a qualified majority to agree to an adjustment of the current regime represents a significant challenge. There are currently no signs of a breakthrough in this regard.
Irish dairy farmers must therefore continue to operate on the assumption that no further changes will be made to the milk quota arrangements agreed in the context of the CAP Health Check. This is extremely important, and I cannot emphasise the point strongly enough. Milk deliveries in the 2010/2011 milk quota year were only just below quota, and deliveries in 2011/2012 to date continue to run almost on quota. With a super levy an increasing likelihood in the final years before quota abolition, all dairy farmers must carefully plan their production activities and pay close attention to the limitations imposed by the quota regime if they are to avoid potentially ruinous super levy fines.
220 Deputy Martin Heydon asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the number of milk production partnerships in the country at present; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [10223/12]
View answer221 Deputy Martin Heydon asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine outside of milk production farm partnerships, the number of other farm partnerships there are here at present; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [10224/12]
View answerI propose to take Questions Nos. 220 and 221 together.
The European Communities Milk Quota Regulations 2008, established a statutory basis for registering milk production partnerships in the context of the administration of the milk quota regime. The register is administered by Teagasc, and I understand that 589 such partnerships are currently registered with Teagasc.
Against the background of the ending of the legal basis for Milk Production Partnership in April 2015, the increased interest being expressed by other sectors of the farming community in farm partnerships, and the undoubted benefits collaborative arrangements between farmers, I am exploring means of encouraging participation in farm partnerships including through the removal of administrative barriers in the context of access to Department schemes. In that context I am also considering whether there is a need to extend the current registration system to other forms of farm partnership. Given that there is no such system in place at present, I am not in a position to provide the additional information requested by the Deputy.
