Martin Kenny (Sligo-Leitrim, Sinn Fein)
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63. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine if he plans to intercede and have the European Union postpone Super Levy fines and increase the intervention price to at least the cost of production, given that Irish farmers are experiencing a severe cash flow crisis due to the ongoing crisis in the dairy sector. [14501/16]

Michael Creed (Cork North West, Fine Gael)
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I am fully aware of the pressures on dairy farmers right now and I am committed to working with all players in the sector to address these issues and ensure that we have a sustainable dairy sector going forward.

With respect to superlevy repayments, the rules governing the EU milk quota regime, including the super levy system for production above quota, were set at EU level. It is not within the gift of individual Member States to amend these rules.

However at the request of Ireland and some other Member States, the EU Commission introduced a provision last year permitting payment of the levy in three annual instalments, without interest. This was on the understanding that the full amount of the levy was paid to the Commission by the Member State in 2015. Ireland was one of the few Member States to implement this scheme and make it available to our farmers.

As part of the discussions in the run-up to the March Council of Agriculture Ministers, Ireland proposed a further deferral of the payment to 2017 and 2018, to ease the financial burden on liable farmers in 2016. I also raised the matter with Commissioner Phil Hogan, in our recent bilateral meeting, as well as at the recent Council of Ministers meeting and encouraged him to reflect again on whether a legal basis could be found to facilitate a further deferral in super levy repayments for farmers.

However the European Commission advised that the legal basis for the Regulations under-pinning the scheme are no longer in existence and therefore further amendments were not possible. While Ireland has again raised the matter with the Commission, we understand that the view of its legal services remains that there is no legal basis for any adjustment to the timelines provided for in the relevant regulations.

Ireland has already raised the question of an increase in intervention prices at EU level. It is clear at this point, however, that there is no prospect of securing the agreement of a qualified majority of member states, or the EU Commission, to such an increase.

However, I very much welcome the announcement by Commissioner Phil Hogan of his intention to increase the flat rate ceiling for SMP intervention buying-in up to 350,000 tonnes, following my recent meeting with him. SMP Intervention is key EU support tool for dairy markets and is badly needed in this extended period of downward price volatility in the dairy sector. Intervention helps to put a floor under prices and this extension will be of particular benefit for Irish producers through the peak production period. Other measures agreed at EU level include Aids to Private Storage for Cheese and a targeted direct aid scheme of €13.7 million for Irish farmers, which was matched by national funds.

I can assure the deputy that I will continue to engage with the EU Commission and with other Member States to ensure that market support measures are deployed and extended as necessary.