Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 28 February 2017
702. Deputy Brendan Griffin asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine if there is support available to persons who continue to struggle with the financial burden of superlevy fines; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [10249/17]
Amharc ar fhreagraI am fully aware of issues facing dairy farmers and I am committed to working with all stakeholders in the sector to address these issues and ensure that we have a sustainable dairy sector going forward.
With respect to superlevy repayments, the rules governing the EU milk quota regime, including the superlevy system for production above quota, were set at EU level. It is not within the gift of individual Member States to amend these rules.
However at the request of Ireland and some other Member States, the EU Commission introduced a provision last year permitting payment of the levy in three annual instalments, without interest. This was on the understanding that the full amount of the levy was paid to the Commission by the Member State in 2015. Ireland was one of the few Member States to implement this scheme and make it available to our farmers. The farmers who applied are currently in their final year of repayments.
There are a number of other initiatives at industry, national and EU level aimed at mitigating market volatility in the dairy sector. The EU Commission has responded to these difficulties through the deployment of support measures provided for under the CAP. Market difficulties continued into the middle of 2016 and the Commission presented a further package of measures at the Agri-Fish Council in July. The main component is a fund of €500 million.
The main element of the EU July 2016 package is a €350 million fund that will be allocated to Member States in the form of national envelopes, which Member States can use in accordance with their domestic circumstances. As part of Budget 2017 I announced a new low cost loan fund for the livestock, including in particular dairy, as well as tillage sectors which will utilise Ireland's €11.1M allocation, in conjunction with national funds, to leverage a greater fund in the region of €150M to provide such a low cost loan model for Irish farmers.
The market returns to Irish dairy farmers are also starting to show improved returns over the last few months and the outlook for 2017 is more positive than last year. I am monitoring this market situation closely as I am aware that the recovery is still somewhat fragile and will remain in close contact with stakeholders as the year progresses.
