John Deasy (Waterford, Fine Gael)
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270. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine when the next meeting of the national dairy forum will be held. [46151/15]

Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)
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As the Deputy is aware, having been a key proposer of such a mechanism, earlier in 2015 I announced my intention to establish a forum to address the key issues arising in the dairy sector in a post quota environment. I envisaged that this group, which would meet periodically, would adopt a strategic perspective and that it would comprise relevant stakeholders, including farm organisations, processors and cooperatives, state and semi state bodies, banks, environmental and other stakeholders. Such a dairy forum is appropriate as a means of engagement on critical issues such as market developments, sustainability, animal health, milk quality and price volatility.

This forum met for the first time in the Autumn with the agenda focussed on some of the aforementioned issues. There was a particular focus on this occasion on the issue of volatility. The forum also served as an extremely useful mechanism to gauge stakeholder preferences with respect to EU targeted aid for the sector. As the deputy will be aware, we are currently in the process of implementing these provisions nationally with payments to farmers currently being processed. I look forward to continued cooperation via the dairy forum to ensure that the Irish dairy sector can harness the opportunities and address the challenges that the future will bring in the context of quota free production. A decision regarding the timing of the next meeting will be made in the new year.