FF: 2% milk quota increase agreed

A DECISION on a proposal to increase milk quotas in the EU by 2% from April 2 will be taken at a meeting of agricultural ministers in Brussels on St Patrick’s Day.

Fianna Fáil members of the European Parliament claimed yesterday the proposal has gone through the official European Commission channels and will be approved by the ministers. Brian Crowley, Liam Aylward and Seán Ó Neachtain predicted that the increase will be good news for Irish dairy farmers and will help the industry to avail of new export opportunities.

Mr Crowley, who is president of the UEN political group in the European Parliament, said the 2% quota increase will amount to 5.5 million tonnes of milk for Irish milk producers.