IRISH dairy farmers facing super levy fines of over £25 million have asked the Government to pressurise the EU to help ease their situation.
The Irish Farmers' Association has proposed that farmers be allowed to take up unused milk quota in other member states. It wants the EU to approach the problem as a Union wide one not an Irish one.
Ireland's 49,000 dairy farmers have already produced millions of gallons of milk over the 1.1 billion gallons allowed under the EU milk quota scheme.
Production so far this year the milk quota year ends on April 1st is far in excess of previous years because of the good summer and mild autumn which meant grass and fodder are readily available.
By January 1st last one farmer in five had already produced the maximum allowable and faced a fine or super levy of £1.38p per gallon for milk taken to creameries.
When over production has occurred, the co operatives and dairies have been able to balance production and minimise fines by what is known as "fleximilk".
This is made up of unused quota from its own suppliers or from suppliers who had gone out of business, had died or could not produce because of disease on farms.
Now the IFA wants the Government to ask the EU to consider an EU wide fleximilk scheme where unused quota in Germany and France in particular, could be used to offset the fines facing Irish farmers.
It has sought a commitment from the Minister for Agriculture, Mr Yates, to pursue this but, an IFA spokeswoman said yesterday, he had refused to commit himself.