I assume the Deputy is referring to the purchase by a French company in 1991 of 6,750 tonnes of Irish intervention butter for sale in the former Soviet Union. It was subsequently discovered that the butter had been diverted to the Polish market in breach of the conditions of sale. The matter was the subject of an investigation by a mission from the European Commission in 1992. Following consideration of the report of the investigation by the EU Commission, the Commission indicated that the Department of Agriculture, Food and Rural Development should apply a forfeiture of three million ecu from the security being held as a penalty for the non-performance of the conditions of sale. My Department, accordingly, applied this penalty.
This matter was the subject of a recent report by the European Court of Auditors. No further action is required by my Department.