'Milk quota giveaway is unfair to dairy farmers'
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Thursday March 11 2010
THE decision by Agriculture Minister Brendan Smith to provide further supports for new entrants to dairying amounts to discrimination against existing small scale milk producers who are already struggling due to the deregulation of the dairy market, the ICMSA claims.
Pat McCormack, Chairperson of the ICMSA's Dairy Committee, claimst that about 40 per cent of Irish dairy farmers have a milk quota of less than 200,000 litres and the only access to free quota these farmers have is through the Milk Quota Appeals Tribunal Hardship Scheme, which typically gives an allocation of 5,000 litres.
"At the same time the minister has introduced a scheme where new entrants can get an allocation of 200,000 litres free of charge - a 40 times multiple of the amount existing dairy farmers with quotas less than 200,000 litres typically qualify for," Mr McCormack said.
"Another example of the bias towards existing small scale producers is evident where a young farmer takes over the farm with 100,000 litres of milk quota but is not eligible for this scheme whereas a neighbour with a similar land holding and with no previous involvement in dairying is eligible to apply for 200,000 litres of free milk quota," he said.
The ICMSA proposal is that all farmers under 200,000 litres - whether existing producers or new entrants - would have had the option to apply for this scheme with the decision about the allocation of the quota to be based on the merits of the application.
This system, according to ICMSA, would be fairer on all and would provide an equal opportunity as opposed to the minister's present stance which Mr McCormack described as the telling existing small scale milk producers who wish to expand that they have to buy quota while new entrants are given it for free.
