National Milk Agency escapes quango cull

The National Milk Agency’s escape from a Government quango cull has been confirmed by Agriculture Minister Simon Coveney.

The statutory body which regulates the supply of milk for liquid consumption was one of the 46 quangos listed as candidates for critical review in the Government’s Public Service Reform Plan published in November 2011.

It proposed abolishing the NMA or merging it with Bord Bia; subsuming the Irish Marine Development Office into the Marine Institute; and subsuming certain Bord Iascaigh Mhara (BIM) functions into the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine. (BIM marketing functions had already been transferred to Bord Bia).