Brendan Smith (Cavan-Monaghan, Fianna Fail)

I accept that there will be some additional cost to primary producers. One of the first meetings I had as Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Food was with the EU Commissioner for Health, Androulla Vassiliou, in regard to this issue which comes under her remit within the European Union. I met Ms Vassiliou while she was here in Dublin and have spoken to her on a number of occasions in Brussels at Council of Agricultural Ministers meetings and elsewhere at which times I outlined our total opposition to the mandatory implementation of this proposal.

When we raised this issue at the Council of Agricultural Ministers, few member states, with the exception of Hungary, which supported us in recent times, Britain, which had previously supported us, and Northern Ireland, which had also expressed concern about this proposal, backed us. We had no support for our case around the Council of Ministers table. Indeed, some countries were robust in their criticism of all countries not having implemented this decision. There was total opposition to Ireland being given a further derogation. It should be remembered that this decision was agreed in 2003, postponed until January 2008 and subsequently to the final day of 2009.

As regards the cost of implementation to producers, I too have seen the figures which Deputy Sherlock accurately quoted. However, officials in my Department in consultation with officials in Teagasc, who are specialists in this area, undertook a thorough analysis and forecast in regard to costs. It is estimated that with the derogations we have received the additional cost to the primary producer will be less than €1 million on an annual basis. That is the best estimate available to the Department.

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