Michael Creed (Cork North West, Fine Gael)
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Question 292: To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if the agreement which was entered into by his predecessors with representatives of a group (details supplied) who campaigned for access for additional milk quota has been honoured in full in terms of additional milk quota to these farmers; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [13575/11]

Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)
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The Milk Rights Group was set up to lobby on behalf of its members for parity of treatment with plaintiffs whose cases were considered by the Supreme Court in 1997, and who were successful in their actions in relation to the method of quota allocation on the introduction of the milk quota/super levy regime in 1984. My Department does not accept that it has any liability other than in cases that have been determined by the courts.

Under a scheme announced in 2001, my Department allocated a significant amount of additional quota under the AGENDA 2000 agreement to persons, including members of the Milk Rights Group, whose circumstances were similar to those of the aforementioned plaintiffs. These special allocations took account of the volume of extra quota that the High Court had determined might have been granted to producers in general who were pursuing dairy investment plans around 1984.