Paul Kehoe (Wexford, Fine Gael)
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Question 195: To ask the Minister for Agriculture and Food if she has received details of the person who is in full ownership of the beet quota; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [5248/05]

Mary Coughlan (Donegal South West, Fianna Fail)
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Under the EU sugar regime, each member state has a quota for manufactured sugar. There is no quota for sugar beet nor is there a quota at farm level. The EU regulations stipulate that the quota must be made available to the sugar manufacturing enterprises in the member state. Accordingly, in Ireland the entire sugar quota is processed by Irish Sugar Ltd., which is the only sugar manufacturer in this country. Irish Sugar Ltd. 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. While the Commission has raised the possibility of cross-border quota mobility in the context of the proposed reform of the EU sugar regime, several member states, including Ireland are strongly opposed to this idea. However, I have asked the Attorney General to examine the issue of ownership of the quota in this context.