Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 27 April 2016
17. Deputy Michael Healy-Rae asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine his plans to suspend milk quota fines in view of the circumstances of the case of a person (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [8524/16]
View answerUnder the Milk Quota Regulations a levy, commonly referred to as a super levy, had to be paid to the EU Commission by Member States in cases where butter fat adjusted milk deliveries exceeded the total national milk quota in a milk quota year. The levy was payable by the milk producers who contributed to the overrun of the national milk quota. Such an over production occurred in the 2014/2015 milk quota year - the final year of the milk quota regime. Given the very high volumes of milk produced across the EU in that final year, the consequent high levels of super levy incurred, and the declining milk prices, the EU Commission introduced a provision whereby Member States were permitted to facilitate the payment of the super levy by the milk producers in three annual instalments, without interest, on the understanding that the full amount of the levy was paid to the Commission by the Member State in year 1. In recognition of the burden on Irish milk producers to pay the high levies, I asked my Department to put in place a Super levy Instalment Scheme.
The Scheme, introduced last June and which is backed by EU and national legislation, allowed applicants to pay at least one third of their levy by October 2015 and the Exchequer would pay the remaining on the understanding that applicants would, as per a signed written agreement, reimburse the Exchequer in ten equal instalments from the months of May to September in 2016 and 2017.
The person named by the Deputy was an applicant under this Scheme.
I raised the possibility of extending this scheme at the Council of Ministers. However the Commission took the view that there is no legal basis to make any amendments to the Scheme.
