Dáil debates

Tuesday, 24 March 2009

3:00 pm

Photo of Michael CreedMichael Creed (Cork North West, Fine Gael)

There is unanimity on all sides of the House regarding the crisis. Most people are interested in hearing about what progress in being made to deliver a solution, not just at the farm gate where, at prices of 20 cent a litre, many farmers will milk cows twice daily for no financial return. Another issue is the processing sector where, in the previous milk year, processors probably subvented the price of milk to the tune of €100 million but are not capable of doing so for a second successive year. The carnage may not stop at the farm gate. There is a real danger that there also may be casualties in the processing sector.

I welcome what the Minister said, up to a point. Did I understand him correctly when he said an additional 6,665 tonnes of butter could be bought into intervention as a result of last week's agreement? That is the equivalent of about less than half a day's production. We need to put that in context. The original 30,000 tonnes of butter available would be filled in less than two days. Therefore, 6,000 tonnes is but a drop in the ocean.

Apart from the bilateral meetings which the Minister is having with Commissioner Fischer Boel, what political arrangements is he organising? What alliances is he forging with other member states who have a similar issue?

One example is the issue of cheddar cheese and export refunds. Processors who are dependent on exports of cheddar cheese are finding that export refunds are useless because they are meeting a tariff on the other side which is greater than the refund available to them. We need to know what political alliances are being forged to deliver meaningful intervention for farmers in order that they get a fair price for their product and ensure that those employed in the processing sector are equally protected.

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