Andrew Doyle (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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Question 98: To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Food the action he is taking to address the potential for super levy penalties and the possibilities for reassignment of unused quota, nationally and EU wide; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [4039/11]

Brendan Smith (Cavan-Monaghan, Fianna Fail)
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The deputy will no doubt appreciate that the primary responsibility for avoiding super levy lies with each individual milk producer, and it is a responsibility that all dairy farmers should take very seriously in the lead-up to milk quota abolition in 2015.

My priority is, firstly, to secure as much quota as possible at a national level, and, then, to ensure that as much quota as possible finds its way into the hands of active milk producers. I have had considerable success on both fronts in recent years. My negotiation of a very positive outcome to the CAP Health Check in 2008 means that, by 2014, the national milk quota will have increased by more than seven per cent compared to 2008. And my modernising approach to the implementation of milk quota policy, which has resulted in a radical overhaul of domestic legislation and the introduction of progressive distribution mechanisms such as the Milk Quota Trading Scheme and the New Entrants Scheme, has allowed historically large volumes of quota to be acquired by, or allocated to, both expanding and newly commencing milk producers.

Nevertheless, I am aware of concerns that have been expressed in the sector about a rapid increase in milk production in Ireland ahead of quota abolition. This is raising hopes for larger increases than the annual 1 per cent already agreed, or perhaps an EU-wide redistribution of unused quota, as suggested in the Deputy's question. While I have supported calls for a re-assessment of the situation at EU level in order to ensure a soft landing for all Member States, the Commission's assessment of the situation in its December 2010 report came to the clear conclusion that a revisiting of the quota elements of the Health Check agreement was not warranted, and any proposal in this regard is unlikely to attract the support of a majority of Member States.