Vol. 566 No. 1
193 Mr. Connaughton asked the Minister for Agriculture and Food when a decision will be made on an application for a milk quota transfer from Arrabawn Co-op to Bandon Co-op in the name of a person (details supplied) in County Galway; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [11697/03]
Regulation 9 of the European Communities (Milk Quota) Regulations 2000, as amended, provides for the purchase of leased quota by the lessee, on expiry or earlier determination of a lease. The named person was the lessor of a milk quota leased with land. That lease is subject to an application made on 12 March 2003 by the lessee in accordance with Regulation 9 for the purchase of the quota. This application is currently being processed and should be completed shortly.
194 Mr. Stanton asked the Minister for Agriculture and Food the situation with regard to the Independent Appeals Tribunal on milk quota; the amounts still to be allocated; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [11698/03]
The allocation of milk quota from the national reserve is granted on the basis of recommendations from the milk quota appeals tribunal. The tribunal is a body established to consider and advise on applications for additional quota from individual producers who have suffered severe hardship in the context of the milk quota system. It also examines applications from producers whose herds have been restricted by animal disease. The tribunal has concluded its work on the hardship and animal disease applications for the 2002-03 milk quota year and all quota available for those categories in that year has been allocated. Details of the 2003-04 schemes will be announced later this year and application forms will be available from co-operatives and from milk policy division, Department of Agriculture and Food, Kildare Street, Dublin 2.
In the 2002-03 milk quota year the tribunal also considered appeals by producers under the 32 million litre scheme which was put in place to allocate the balance of the Agenda 2000 milk quota to certain categories of small and medium scale milk producers who satisfied certain criteria. Approximately five million litres is yet to be allocated under this scheme. The work on assessing the approximately 1,800 appeals arising from the scheme will be completed in the near future and all appellants will then be advised of the outcome in their case.
