John Deasy (Waterford, Fine Gael)
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Question 533: To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will be seeking a derogation for dairy farmers who exceeded their milk quota in the current year in view of the fact that there will be a deficit of 7% of milk production in the EU; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [27107/11]

John Deasy (Waterford, Fine Gael)
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Question 534: To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Food the discussions he has had with other EU member states concerning the likelihood that Ireland will exceed the milk quota in the current year; if there is a willingness among other EU States to allow Ireland to fill the EU deficit in milk production for 2011. [27108/11]

Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 533 and 534 together.

I and my Department have been raising the question of an adjustment to the milk quota regime at political and official level, and at Commission level, in recent months in order to secure a soft landing for all Member States in the lead-up to milk quota abolition in 2015. I have discussed this with other EU Agriculture Ministers including most recently with my French counterpart in a bilateral meeting in Paris last week.

Possible options include the front-loading of the remaining quota increases, a reduction in the super levy, a further reduction in butterfat correction levels, or a kind of EU flexi-milk arrangement which would operate provided EU production overall was within quota.

However, I have to emphasise that the Commission has consistently resisted attempts to reconsider this issue, as it has resisted attempts to revisit the outcome of the 2008 CAP Health Check agreement in an overall sense. It is also the case that only a minority of Member states is likely to be adversely affected by the current quota restrictions, and therefore persuading a qualified majority to agree to an adjustment of the current regime represents a significant challenge.

Irish dairy farmers must therefore continue to operate on the assumption that no further changes will be made to the milk quota arrangements agreed in the context of the CAP Health Check. This is extremely important, and I cannot emphasise the point strongly enough. Milk deliveries in the 2010/2011 milk quota year were only just below quota, and deliveries in 2011/2012 to date are significantly ahead of quota.

With a super levy an increasing likelihood as we head towards quota abolition, all dairy farmers must carefully plan their production activities and pay close attention to the limitations imposed by the quota regime if they are to avoid potentially ruinous super levy fines.