Martin Ferris (Kerry North-West Limerick, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

The Minister is as aware as I am and many other Deputies of the dishonest grounds on which the quota was abolished in 2006 when Greencore and the then Minister for Agriculture, Mary Coughlan, claimed the European Union was forcing the closure. The European Court of Auditors subsequently rubbished this claim. The Minister has mentioned the value of growing sugar as a break crop and its value as a cash crop, particularly for small farmers. He has indicated that he supports the effort to procure a quota from 2015 onwards if the European Union will not abolish the quota regime. Is he prepared to put his full weight behind this effort to try to get a quota for producers who are intent on growing beet again? Will he indicate the size of quota for which he would be looking amd how many jobs this would create and the knock-on value to the economy in general?

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