asked the Minister for Agriculture and Fisheries if it is his interpretation of the Anglo-Irish Trade Agreement that Ireland has a contractual obligation to supply the full butter quota to Britain.
Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - Butter Quota to Britain.
24.
There is no contractual obligation on this country to supply the present British quota for Irish butter. I would point out, however, that we regarded previous quotas as unsatisfactory and that failure to fill the increased quota which we secured under the Free Trade Area Agreement could prejudice our position in seeking further increases in future years when greater quantities will be available for export.
Is the Minister satisfied that we will have sufficient milk to supply this butter quota and not interfere in any way with our other diversified products?
Not this year. Unfortunately the milk projection for this year was not realised and in order to allocate enough milk to butter production to meet our quota of 23,000 tons, it was necessary to ration the milk available to diversification plants. All of these plants were cut back at an even rate by Bord Bainne.
Has the Minister considered the wisdom of that decision?
I went into it very carefully indeed. The first requirement was to fill our butter quota and I have no doubt that was the right decision. Our position in the British market has always been weak because we were intermittent suppliers, and it is essential that we meet our quota consistently year in and year out in the future.