Brendan Smith (Cavan-Monaghan, Fianna Fail)

Apart from the €7 million that I allocated to sheep farmers, which will be distributed in December, we do not have access to the unused funds until 2010. One of the areas identified as a potential recipient is the dairy sector. However, that is not applicable until 2010. The European Union has not yet outlined to us the specific schemes on which we will be able to draw down unused funds.

The Deputy referred to the problem of demand and supply. Consumers worldwide do not have the level of income to purchase sufficient dairy products. Dairy prices rose to a very high level in 2007. Subsequently, there was increased production in third countries, including the United States. There were currency fluctuations that militated against us in the European Union. The dollar was strong at one stage and weak at another. New Zealand has also had the opportunity to change the value of its currency. All of those factors have had an impact.

Last year, I fought very tenaciously for the European Union to retain the market mechanism measures, particularly aid to private storage, intervention and export refunds. In the early days of negotiations of the health check of the Common Agricultural Policy there was little or no support for the retention of such measures. In the final day of the negotiation we got some support from other countries. Were those measures not in place now, the sector would be in even more difficulty than it finds itself in.

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