Dáil Éireann díospóireacht -
Tuesday, 10 Mar 1998

Vol. 488 No. 4

Written Answers - Beef Premium Quota.

Minister for Agriculture and Food (Mr. Walsh)

The special beef premium quota was established at 1.540 million head for Ireland in 1992. This quota was reduced to 1.287 million rights in the context of the 1994-95 price fixing proposals. Similar reductions were applied to all member states in order to eliminate excess quota rights and thereby reduce the incentive to increase beef production.

In the aftermath of the BSE scare in 1996, the Agriculture Council adopted a package of proposals to curb beef production and to provide compensation for income losses to beef producers arising from the scare. Part of the package was to reduce the special beef premium quotas for 1997 and 1998 for all member states, with the exception of those where applications were already below the level of their existing quotas. The quota for Ireland was fixed at 1.002 million rights. In the context of this year's annual price's proposals, the Commission has proposed that these quotas should be retained for 1999. These proposals have not yet been adopted by Council.

Minister for Agriculture (Mr. Walsh)

Ireland's national quota for special beef premium has, as stated by the Deputy, been reduced twice since it was first set at 1.540 million head in 1992. The first reduction occurred in the 1994-95 price fixing proposals and saw a removal of some 250,000 surplus quota rights. This reduction would not have affected Ireland's 1997 special beef premium payments as the total number of eligible animals was within the 1.286 million quota rights available. However, the second reduction, which arose from a decision by the Council of Agriculture Ministers in October 1996 cut Irelands, quota by approximately 285,000 rights to some 1,002,000 which will result in a reduced payment under the 1997 special beef premium and extensification premium. While definitive figures regarding the extent by which the October 1996 decision will reduce total 1997 payments will not be available before April 1998 at the earliest, indications at present are that the new, reduced, quota has been exceeded by some 6.5 per cent. The level of payment of both ten and 22 month special beef premium, and extensification premium where relevant, will be reduced accordingly.

Minister for Agriculture and Food (Mr. Walsh)

The national ceiling for the special beef premium for 1997 and 1998 was fixed at 1,002 million premium rights in the context of the mini-reform of the beef regime agreed in 1996. Unless this measure is extended, the ceiling will revert to 1.286 million premium rights from 1999 onwards.

The national ceiling for the special beef premium is based on applications for the ten month premium. It is difficult to indicate precisely what level of national quota would be required in order to avoid a reduction in premium payments because this will depend on the volume of applications for the premium in future years. However, for a clawback to be avoided in the future, it would appear that the ceiling would need to be somewhat higher than the volume of applications submitted for the ten month premium in 1997, 1.089 million, in order to accommodate the higher number of breeding cows currently in the national herd.