Seán Fleming (Laois-Offaly, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I welcome Mr. O'Driscoll and his colleagues. I have a few issues to raise and if they were specifically covered while I was attending other meetings, well and good.

Twice on the first page of his opening script Mr. O'Driscoll referred to the successfully negotiated agreement on the reform of Common Agricultural Policy which included the end of milk quotas. Given that we were in the driving seat during the negotiations, was Mr. O'Driscoll aware at that stage, based on projections and knowing that the agriculture and dairy industry was gearing up to increase production to take advantage of this reform, that we were facing a superlevy bill of about €69 million? In the negotiations what did he expect the hit to be on farmers? I would be shocked if he did not contemplate this possibility. From responses to parliamentary questions, I know that there is an arrangement in place allowing the superlevy to be paid by the Department over a three-year period. That is an issue for cash flow, but there is still a figure of €69 million. How many farmers are affected and what is the breakdown? If Mr. O'Driscoll does not have it, he may be able to supply a chart showing how many farmers are affected.

I ask Mr. O'Driscoll to explain the recovery method. Does the State have to pay the superlevy, with the Department collecting it from the co-operatives which collect it from farmers? I ask Mr. O'Driscoll to give us a note because I have not heard anything on this aspect of the matter. Does the Department collect the superlevy that it pays over to the European Union? I ask Mr. O'Driscoll to talk me though the big issue.

I will be upfront. I fundamentally disagree with Mr. O'Driscoll's opening remarks in which he said it was a successful conclusion to the Common Agricultural Policy negotiations which resulted in a bill of €69 million for farmers. I do not describe that a success. It may have been a success for officialdom to have an agreement, but it is not a success for farmers. It had to be contemplated that the regime was coming to an end and people could not have been expected to wait until 1 April, the end of the superlevy year, before starting to increase output. If we were to reach the targets mentioned, Mr. O'Driscoll must have known that there would be a build-up. Surely it had to be within the Department's ability during Ireland's Presidency to secure some transitional arrangements to ease off on superlevy payments. He might outline what the experience has been in other places.