Séamus Hughes
Ceist:209 Mr. Hughes asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and Forestry the steps, if any, he has taken to ensure that the area of Connacht-Ulster maintains its capacity as a milk producing area.
Written Answers. - Connacht-Ulster Milk Producing Area.
Because of the preponderance of small-scale producers in Connacht-Ulster, this region benefits particularly from arrangements which give priority status to small producers. I was of course conscious of this when deciding the conditions for the allocation, free of charge, of the major part of the 6.6 million gallons special reserve which I secured at the 1993 EU farm price review. The Connacht-Ulster region, which accounts for about 20 per cent of the national quota, received over 30 per cent of that allocation of 4.9 million gallons.
On a broader level, I am pursuing, at EU level, the possibility of restricting, for socio-economic reasons the movement of quota from certain areas.