Vol. 576 No. 2
82 Mr. Ring asked the Minister for Agriculture and Food the number of young dairy farmers who received circa 5,500 gallons of milk quota in or around December 2002; the breakdown of these numbers by county; if this milk comes under the remit of the Fischler proposals; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [29239/03]
In 2000 I put in place a scheme for the allocation of 5 million gallons of the Agenda 2000 milk quota to young milk producers who satisfied certain defined criteria. The 3,099 eligible applicants each received an allocation of 1,700 gallons. Furthermore, in 2001 an additional 4.5 million gallons was allocated to young farmers, and 3,442 applicants each received an extra 1,300 gallons under that scheme. There was no specific allocation to young farmers from the national reserve in 2002. The allocation in that year was to certain categories of small and medium scale producers who satisfied certain defined criteria. I am forwarding a schedule of the breakdown, by county, of young farmers who received allocations in the years 2000 and 2001 to the Deputy.
Under the mid-term review agreement, the total milk quota on which the dairy premium may be paid is limited to the level of the national quota for the year 1999-2000. No premium is payable in respect of quantities in addition to that, such as those allocated to Ireland under Agenda 2000.
