Michael Lowry (Tipperary North, Independent)
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Question 405: To ask the Minister for Agriculture and Food her views on the national sugar quota and on the national sugar beet quota; the steps she will take to bring both national quotas under State ownership; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [4057/05]

Mary Coughlan (Donegal South West, Fianna Fail)
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Each member state has a quota for manufactured sugar under the EU sugar regime. There is no quota for sugar beet and there is no quota at farm level. EU regulations stipulate that the quota must be made available to sugar manufacturing enterprises in the member state. Accordingly, in Ireland the entire sugar quota is processed by Irish Sugar Limited, which is the only sugar manufacturer here. That company places annual contracts with farmers to grow a specific tonnage of sugar beet, sufficient to manufacture the sugar quota. The EU regulations do not provide for the buying and selling of the quota for manufactured sugar. The Commission has raised the possibility of cross-border quota mobility in the context of the proposed reform of the EU sugar regime, but several member states including Ireland are strongly opposed to the idea.