Dr. Muiris Ó Céidigh:

Another driver in that is the NDC logo, which the consumer wants and identifies with. In that context, there would be pressure to acquire supplies to be able to use that logo. Importers supplying the multiples with milk from Northern Ireland might be under pressure from those multiples to meet the requirements for displaying that logo. Undoubtedly, there is a commitment by the consumer here to liquid milk and for that reason, there will be a market for liquid milk for the foreseeable future. The question is whether there will be producers to supply that market in current and future circumstances. The Oireachtas, in its wisdom, decided that liquid milk producers would be given a special position because of that demand. It further decided that adequate compensation was a necessity, which has a number of aspects to it because of the new situation that pertains. If we want to have home-produced liquid milk available to consumers, the element of the legislative provisions regarding producers being paid properly must be pursued by the agency, in conjunction with the notion of registering liquid milk contracts. That must be seen as a viable option for producers or they will opt to become spring-calving farmers. It must be worth their while to do it.

There is no running out of liquid milk into manufacturing at the moment. There is no big bang imminent, with liquid milk producers suddenly turning to the manufacturing sector next April. As it stands, most liquid milk producers would be approximately 50:50, in terms of liquid milk and manufacturing milk. However, to maintain their commitment to the liquid milk market, the adequacy of compensation issue has increased in importance enormously. There are no better lobbyists for that than the producer representatives on the board of the National Milk Agency who review the prices as they come in.