Seymour Crawford (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
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Question 1009: To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Food the meetings he has had with the European Agriculture Commission or the Commission officials regarding the crisis for dairy farmers; if such meetings have been held; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [12279/09]

Brendan Smith (Cavan-Monaghan, Fianna Fail)
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We are facing an unprecedented situation in the dairy sector at present and the outlook for dairy markets in the short term is poor. Following historically high prices in 2007 and early 2008 a market correction is now taking place and there is a further complication of the credit crunch. These two factors have put an enormous burden on the sector and resulted in a slump in demand. In Ireland we are entering a period of peak dairy supplies and the levels at which export refunds and intervention function will be critical to the speed at which we emerge from the current difficulties. I have been urging a short sharp utilisation of the market management measures to get the market back to equilibrium as quickly as possible.

I have maintained close contact with Commissioner Fischer Boel regarding the need for appropriate action to support the market. The Commission responded initially with the early introduction of Private Storage Aid for butter and with the reintroduction of export refunds in January. In addition the Commissioner gave a commitment to continue intervention for butter and skimmed milk powder under the tendering arrangements once the fixed limits were reached. These were welcome developments and well judged at the time.

I met the Commissioner in Brussels on the 11th of March to discuss developments and explore the options open to us. In particular I had two main issues to press her on. The first was the need to buy butter into intervention at prices close to the fixed price level. The second was to stress the need to export larger quantities of butter and skimmed milk powder to international markets. I am pleased to report very positive progress on both these key points. At last week's management committee meeting it was agreed to purchase a total of 6,665 tonnes of butter into intervention at levels very close to the intervention price. This is a very important development. In addition to this, increased quantities of butter and skimmed milk powder were granted export refunds at the same meeting. In fact, the volumes supported with export refunds last week were almost equivalent to the combined totals of the three previous tenders. This is a very welcome improvement and should help bring stability to the market.

I am encouraged by this progress in the use of EU support measures and I believe we have made some positive steps towards stabilising the market. However, there is still room for improvement and the Commission's role in managing the market is crucial. I will continue to monitor developments and intervene with the Commissioner when necessary.