Milk Quota Allocated To Innovative Teagasc Project

Junior Agriculture Minister, Tony Killeen, T.D., has welcomed the allocation of milk quota to a major research project aimed at the development of profitable, expanding dairy farms as the sector moves towards quota abolition.

The project is being undertaken by Teagasc’s Moorepark Dairy Production Research Centre, located near Fermoy in Co Cork, in collaboration with Glanbia, the Agricultural Trust and AIB Bank.

Minister of State Killeen noted that the allocation of milk quota to the project will help generate valuable information on low cost, efficient milk production that will be made available to all dairy farmers through Teagasc’s advisory service. He added: “The project also will help dairy farmers to adjust to the new trading environment over the coming years. The dissemination of the relevant information and data, in a timely manner, to dairy farmers is of the utmost importance.”

“The abolition of milk quotas in 2015 and increased exposure to global market forces is expected to lead to a significant increase in milk production in Ireland. Dairy farmers must be ready to respond. In particular they need to plan for, and manage, a profitable expansion of their businesses. I believe this project will help to equip them with the best tools for this purpose”, added Minister of State Killeen.

The Clare T.D. indicated that quota allocations are expected to be of the order of 125,000 litres in the current milk quota year, rising to just under 3m litres in 2014/2015 as the three farms involved in the project increase production.

“They also complement to some extent the recent allocation of 200,000 litres of quota to each of 70 new entrants to dairying, in that Teagasc is developing a further research programme to assist the latter’s successful transition to milk production”, concluded Minister of State Killeen.

Clare / Limerick Drinking Water Alert Is Lifted

Clare County Council and Limerick County Council, following consultation with the Health Service Executive, have removed a drinking water alert that was affecting approximately 500 individuals in Montpelier (Limerick), O’Briensbridge and Bridgetown (Clare).

The notice was put in place last Tuesday after the County Councils’ Water Services sections detected a deterioration in water quality in the Montpelier Water Supply Scheme.

Subsequent extensive testing by Environmental Laboratory staff from both Councils has shown that the water being supplied continues to meet the drinking water standards.

Killeen Demands A Fair Deal For Irish Fishermen

Tony Killeen TD, Minister of State at the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, today met EU Fisheries Commissioner Joe Berg to reinforce his efforts to secure a fair deal for Irish fishermen in EU /Norway negotiations being held in Brussels this week.

Minister of State Killeen sought the meeting after it emerged that developments at the formal EU / Norway negotiations were likely to seriously impact on Ireland.

Transfers to Norway, which would involve quota reductions for Ireland of 2,500 tonnes of horse mackerel and 2,000 tonnes of mackerel, are under examination at the negotiations. The transfer of EU stocks of mackerel and horse mackerel is being pushed by a group of Member States including Spain and Portugal. These Member States benefit from access to Artic cod stocks in Norwegian waters which must be paid for with transfers of EU fish quotas to Norway.

Speaking following today’s meeting, Minister of State Killeen stated: “As soon as it became clear to me that the deal on the table in the EU / Norway negotiations would involve a substantial loss of fish quotas for Irish fishermen and fish factories I immediately sought an urgent meeting. I set down for Commissioner Borg the impacts of the planned deal on those Irish fishermen and fish factories who are dependent on mackerel and horse mackerel for their livelihoods.”

He continued: “These stocks are the mainstay of the Donegal pelagic fishing fleet and are also important for the south west fishing fleet and for fish factories on the western seaboard. I explained that the deal on the table would mean that Irish fishermen would be paying in lost fishing quotas for the extra cod quotas for a range of Member States including Spain and Portugal. I pointed out that a deal agreed on this basis would be completely unacceptable to Ireland and would not be justified.”

Commissioner Borg agreed to make urgent contact with his negotiators in Bergen and to explain the points raised. He undertook to request them to consider other options to pay for the artic cod transferred to the EU with a view to seeking a more equitable arrangement for Ireland.

The EU/ Norway fisheries negotiations are commencing a final session in Bergen, Norway today (7th December), and are likely to conclude this week.