Brendan Smith (Cavan-Monaghan, Fianna Fail)

Regarding the drop in production, even though we do not have official figures, we have made informal contacts with the industry. It has been suggested that in the first two weeks of April deliveries were considerably down, perhaps in excess of 6% compared to the same period last year, due primarily to restricted grass growth as a result of the prolonged cold spell. However, more recent evidence received through informal checks with the industry indicates that the situation appears to have improved considerably in the past ten days. Current expectation is that supply will be within 2% or 3% of last year's total by the end of the month.

We want to maintain our production base. Reports of people leaving the industry suggest a mix of producer size. Those in various processing sectors and co-operatives indicate that there is no set pattern. We will analyse the situation further.

Last year, when additional quota became available to this country as a result of the health check of the Common Agricultural Policy, I devoted a certain percentage of it to new entrants. Based on the applications, the quality of the entrants was extremely high. Unfortunately, we had to disappoint well-qualified applicants. Another scheme is currently under way which I expect will be oversubscribed as well.

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