Milk Quota.

Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 7 February 2006

Tuesday, 7 February 2006

Ceisteanna (309)

Dan Neville

Ceist:

396 Mr. Neville asked the Minister for Agriculture and Food the position regarding and application of a person (details supplied) in County Limerick for an allocation of entitlements from the single payment national reserve under category C, which caters for farmers who, between 1 January 2000 and 19 October 2003, sold their milk into the milk quota restructuring scheme and converted their enterprise to a farming sector for which a direct payment under livestock premium and arable aid scheme would have been payable during the reference period 2000-02. [4134/06]

Freagraí scríofa

Minister for Agriculture and Food (Mary Coughlan)

The person named applied under category C of the national reserve, which caters for farmers who, between 1 January 2000 and 19 October 2003, sold their milk quota into the milk quota restructuring scheme and converted their enterprise to a farming sector for which a direct payment under livestock premia or arable aid schemes, would have been payable during the reference period 2000 to 2002.

Allocations from the national reserve have yet to be decided. The position is that over 23,000 applications for an allocation of entitlements from the national reserve were received when account is taken of farmers who applied under more than one category. Processing of these applications is continuing and the intention is to make allocations to successful applicants at the earliest opportunity. My Department will be in touch with individual applicants as soon as their applications are fully processed when formal letters setting out my Department's decision will be issued.