“There is an element of responsibility at EU level to accept that action does need to be taken to address the impending large superlevy bill.”
That’s according to Irish Dairy Board Secretary, Anne Randles who addressed the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Agriculture today on the potential difficulties facing the dairy sector in 2015.
Randles said the IDB believes that there is a certain element of responsibility at EU in where we find ourselves now.
“There has been a long lead in time to the abolition of milk quotas there was a lot of emphasis put on the whole issue of a soft landing as a responsible way of arriving at the situation that we are in.”
Yet, according to Randles the sector finds itself now in the last year of quotas facing perhaps the highest and the most historic bill throughout Europe not just in Ireland.
It’s possible, she said that the Commission will receiving in receipts from superlevy at one of the highest levels of receipts in the last year that the quota exists.
According to Randles there is an element of responsibility at EU level to accept that action does need to be taken not to hamper the investment that has been taken in response to what is a political decision to remove quotas.
“Its very disappointing two and a half months out that we are still looking at this,” she said.
“I think it is something that it is most unfortunate that we find ourselves in at a period when farmers throughout Europe have identified a future for themselves in dairying an are investing in there futures post the abolition of quotas.”