Martin Ferris (Kerry North-West Limerick, Sinn Fein)
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2. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine if his Department has completed its investigations into alleged milk quota irregularities (details supplied); if the Garda fraud squad has been involved in the case; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [20375/14]

Martin Ferris (Kerry North-West Limerick, Sinn Fein)
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Has the Department completed its investigation into alleged milk quota irregularities? I supplied the details with the question. Has the Garda fraud squad been involved in the case? Could the Minister make a statement on the matter?

Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)
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EU milk regulations, introduced in 1984, provide for maximum milk production limits for member states and in turn for farmers delivering milk. Milk produced in excess of the national quota is subject to a levy of 28.6 cent per litre, and this sum is levied on the relevant producers and remitted to the European Commission by the Department. In years in which the national quota is exceeded the calculation of such levies is finalised in the September following the end of the relevant quota year. The EU quota regime is due to terminate on 31 March 2015.

Under EU milk quota regulations and related national statutory instruments, my Department is the competent authority for ensuring compliance with the EU milk quota regime and that milk deliveries from farmers are accurately recorded. Where allegations of non-compliance are made, my Department investigates such matters to ensure that the obligations of all parties under the milk quota regulations are being met in full, that any levies are paid in full, that the systems and procedures underpinning the operation of the regime are robust and to ensure that there are no financial losses to the Exchequer or the European Union arising from any non-compliance.

In relation to the specific case referred to by the Deputy, an investigation by my Department into alleged irregularities is ongoing. The case is proving to be complex. We are very close to finalising the investigation. Last night I got the first report back from officials in the Department, having pulled together all of the different elements of the investigation which involved a lot of interviews and consideration. We also had to get legal advice from within the Department and that has taken time. We are close to drawing conclusions and when we do I will certainly let the Deputy know what they area.

Martin Ferris (Kerry North-West Limerick, Sinn Fein)
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The reason I raise the matter is because my understanding is that the case involves a college, a farmer 125 miles away, 500,000 l of milk and I am concerned about the possible effects it could have on suppliers to a milk processing company in terms of the super levy. Will other suppliers suffer the consequences of what has happened?

Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)
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I share the concern of Deputy Ferris. We are taking the issue very seriously, which is why we have taken our time and undertaken a very thorough investigation. It is true that a number of parties are involved - a school, a large food processing company and a large farmer who was managing farming operations on behalf of the school. It has taken a while to get our head around the issues because of the complexity involved. I assure Deputy Ferris that we are taking the issue very seriously. Under no circumstances will I allow dairy farmers, who should be in a position to avail of a reallocated quota because there is unused quota, to be prevented from doing so due to wrongdoing. We will have a full outcome to the case in the next week or fortnight. We will put matters right in terms of what happened.

Martin Ferris (Kerry North-West Limerick, Sinn Fein)
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Is the investigation being carried out by the Department?

Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)
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Yes. We are the competent authority to do that.

Martin Ferris (Kerry North-West Limerick, Sinn Fein)
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Is there a possibility of the fraud squad becoming involved in the investigation?

Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)
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That is unlikely. I will take legal advice on the matter from the Department and I will follow it to the letter. We have a pretty good understanding of what happened. There are consequences and we will enforce them but I am not in a position to give full details at this stage.