Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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Question 221: To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Food the countries to which Irish dairy products have been exported in each of the past five years; the number of new markets established; the existing markets lost; his projections for the future; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [37785/08]

Brendan Smith (Cavan-Monaghan, Fianna Fail)
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Irish dairy products are exported to other EU member states and to over 100 countries worldwide. The amount of exports to any particular destination varies in accordance with changes in the supply/demand dynamics in particular regions of the world and in respect of the various dairy products involved. In overall terms, Ireland's dairy exports increased in 2007 by 13%, to €2.36 billion, an increase of €270 million on the previous record achieved in 2006. The UK represented the largest single share of export sales with 23%. The rest of the EU accounted for 52%, while North America and Africa accounted for 9% and 8% respectively. As international demand changes there will be an increasing emphasis on consumer food markets, particularly in the EU, US and high growth emerging economies, together with strategically expanding marketing and distribution capability worldwide.

Dairy product output from Ireland and the EU is of course constrained by the limits placed on milk output by the EU milk quota regime. As part of the current negotiations on the CAP Health Check the Commission has put forward proposals to increase milk quotas in order to provide a 'soft landing' towards the abolition of quotas in 2015. These proposals will provide Irish dairy farmers and processors with further opportunities to respond to global demand and to increase production and capture new market share.