In a parliamentary question on Tuesday, Fine Gael TD Michael D’Arcy asked the Minister for Agriculture Michael Creed if the superlevy repayments could be deferred for 2016 to allow dairy farmers a period of recovery.

Minister Creed said that in the run-up to the farm council meeting in March, Ireland proposed a further deferral of the payment to 2017 and 2018, to ease the financial burden on liable farmers in 2016. Despite these efforts, a deferral is not possible, he said, as there is no legal basis for any adjustment to the timeline set.

“I also raised the matter with Commissioner Phil Hogan in our recent bilateral meeting, as well as at the recent Council of Ministers meeting, and encouraged him to reflect again on whether a legal basis could be found to facilitate a further deferral in superlevy repayments for farmers.

“However, the European Commission advised that the legal basis for the regulations underpinning the scheme are no longer in existence and therefore further amendments were not possible. While Ireland has again raised the matter with the Commission, we understand that the view of its legal services remains that there is no legal basis for any adjustment to the timelines provided for in the relevant regulations,” he said.

Outstanding payments, therefore, must be paid in 2016 and 2017.

Pay the balance

Creed told D’Arcy that the rules governing the EU milk quota regime, including the superlevy system for production above quota, were set at EU level and “it is not within the gift of individual member states to amend the rules”.

“At the request of Ireland and some other member states, the EU Commission introduced a provision last year permitting payment of the levy in three annual instalments, without interest, on the understanding that the full amount of the levy was paid to the Commission by the member state in 2015. The scheme required applicants to pay at least one-third of their levy by October 2015 with the balance to be paid in 2016 and 2017.

“Ireland was one of the few member states to implement this scheme and make it available to its farmers. The scheme design was agreed in advance with the co-ops and farm organisations here,” Creed said.

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