Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)

To be fair to Deputy Moynihan, he has raised this issue with me repeatedly in the House and outside it. He has similar priorities to me. We both have a concern that the Irish dairy industry may be subject to super levy fines next year if we are not careful.

Last year we narrowly avoided the imposition of fines. Many people made a lot of money last year by being over quota and we were lucky to avoid super levy fines. By mid summer this year I was concerned about the fact Ireland was more than 5% over quota for the time of year. We have been sending out consistent messages since then that it will be very difficult to get any political flexibility from other European countries to allow Ireland to produce over quota. That has proven to be the case.

As I stated in this House repeatedly, we have had bilateral meetings with Denmark, the Netherlands and, more recently, France, when there was a meeting with the Minister in Paris. Most recently, at the last Council meeting I had a bilateral meeting with my German colleague who happens to come from Bavaria and outlined in no uncertain terms why this was an important priority issue for me.

The last thing we want to do is fine progressive dairy farmers who are planning for expansion, growth and investment post-2015. My German colleague took my concerns on board but did not give any indication that Germany was in a position to support what is currently the only item on the table, namely the butterfat correction which would allow Ireland to produce between 1.7% and 2% more milk this year and still be under quota.

We are still being frustrated in our attempts to get common agreement amongst Council members and Ministers. We will continue to pursue the issue. In the meantime I need to send a very strong signal to farmers that they need to operate within quotas.

See this speech in context