Vol. 508 No. 1
272 Dr. O'Hanlon asked the Minister for Agriculture and Food the progress, if any, being made on acquiring an extra volume of milk quota under the peace initiative in the Border region; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [17374/99]
The case for additional milk quota for the Border regions has been discussed on a number of occasions between officials of my Department, the United Kingdom's Ministry for Agriculture, Food and Fisheries and the Department of Agriculture for Northern Ireland. The matter was also raised at ministerial level with the UK and I have also met the Cross-Border Milk Quota Action Group.
The Deputy will be aware that as part of the agreement on CAP reform under Agenda 2000 additional milk quota was agreed for both parts of the island. That was a welcome development. The amount of quota allocated to Ireland and its timing are very favourable when compared with the situation of most member states. In these circumstances it would be unrealistic to expect any further quota allocation to Ireland in the short to medium term.
