Liz McManus (Wicklow, Labour)
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Question 120: To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Food the position of Ireland regarding the procurement of an additional milk quota from the EU; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [25563/08]

Brendan Smith (Cavan-Monaghan, Fianna Fail)
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The Commission Health Check proposals in the milk sector cover the full range of market management measures currently in place, and milk quota expansion is at the forefront of these. The Commission has proposed to increase national quotas by 1% per annum from 2009/10 to 2013/14 and to allow quotas to expire in 2015.

My approach in these negotiations will be to ensure a 'soft landing' towards the eventual abolition of quotas in 2015. The Health Check provides Irish and EU dairy farmers with a new opportunity to respond to increased global demand. However, the proposals currently on the table, in my view, do not correspond with the expectations of Irish milk producers in meeting the demands of international dairy markets. A gradual increase in quotas is the most sensible and logical way to achieve this but we will need to be more ambitious in the annual adjustments of quota volumes. I will be asking the Commission to bring forward more ambitious quota expansion proposals in these negotiations and I also want to keep the existing market management measures in place to cater for any price volatility that may occur during the transition period.