Vol. 548 No. 4
34 Mr. Rabbitte asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and Rural Development the terms of the milk quota schemes for restructuring and temporary leasing for the 2002-2003 quota year; the terms of the flexi-milk scheme for the current quota year; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [4948/02]
Under the terms of the restructuring scheme I have decided to set a maximum price for the 2002-03 scheme at €0.31 per litre – £1.11p per gallon. I intend to continue this downward trend in the future. I have also decided to improve the priority access of younger farmers from 20% to 25% of the pool and will continue to make provision for those producers who were unable to renew existing land or quota leases. The general priority categories will be the same as last year i.e. category I – less than 180,000 litres, category II – 180,000 to 275,000 litres and category III – over 275,000 litres, and allocations would be made to these categories on the basis of a 3:2:1 ratio. The scheme will therefore continue to be weighted in favour of small and medium scale producers.
The restructuring scheme has been very successful in the two years since the introduction of the new regime. About 80 million gallons of quota has been reallocated, most of it to small and medium category producers. The gradual reduction in price along with the very favourable taxation treatment for quota purchase has made this possible. The level of quota reallocation is already bringing about an improvement in the structure of the sector at production level, something that is vital to meet future competitive challenges.
