Brendan Smith (Cavan-Monaghan, Fianna Fail)
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841. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the outcome of recent discussions at the EU Council of Ministers on the need to support the dairy sector due to present difficulties; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [27466/16]

Michael Creed (Cork North West, Fine Gael)
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I am acutely aware of the difficulties facing iris dairy farmers this year which is why I have been intensively engaged with the EU Agriculture Commissioner other Eu Agriculture Ministers in finding solutions. Dairy markets at Irish, EU and international level, have been experiencing difficulties for nearly two years, due to a combination of increased global supply, the effects of the Russian ban on the import of EU products and reduced global demand.  The Commission responded to these difficulties through the deployment of support measures provided for under the CAP and in the form of two wider packages of measures, in September 2015 and March 2016.

The Commission presented a further package of measures at the Agri-Fish Council on 18 July.  The main component is a fund of €500 million, which comprises two elements:

The first is a €150 million EU-wide measure to compensate farmers for reducing their milk output in the final quarter of  2016 compared to the same period in 2015 (at a rate of 14c/kg). The detailed rules regarding this measure were agreed at EU level on August 25th and the Commission provided the legal provisions to give effect to this measure earlier this month. The Scheme is currently being implemented in Ireland and some 4,400 milk producers have applied, indicating that they propose to reduce milk production by 72m litres in the Oct – Dec 2016  period compared to the same period last year.

The second element of the EU July 2016  package is a €350 million fund that will be allocated to Member States in the form of national envelopes, which Member States can use in accordance with their domestic circumstances. Whilst eligibility criteria will apply, Member States are afforded a large degree of flexibility in terms of the measures they might adopt.  Ireland’s allocation from the fund will  be €11.09 million. Member States will be required to notify the Commission by 1 November 2016 of the measures to be adopted. Final decisions on how Ireland will utilise this latter aid element have not yet been reached and the matter is subject to on going consideration in consultation with the EU and National stakeholders.

It should be clearly noted that the above represent two distinct and separate policy responses at EU level. Availing of one element of the package at national level is not conditional on participation in the other measure.

In addition to the above measures I along with Minister of State Andrew Doyle have been proactive in promoting Irish dairy products around the world in an effort to further diversify our global markets. Both Minister Doyle and I have just returned from a four-country trade mission to China, Korea, Vietnam and Singapore where promotion of Irish dairy products in these growing markets was a key priority.