Dairy farmers face €15.1m super levy

DAIRY farmers in Ireland are facing a €15.1 million super levy bill for being over quota in the past year, according to provisional calculations.

Nine EU member states including Ireland exceeded their milk delivery quotas in the 2004/2005 quota year, which runs from April 1 to March 31. One other state also exceeded its quota for direct sales to consumers. The European Commission said yesterday these 10 states will have to pay a super levy totalling €364m.

Last year, the total levy amounted to €385m.