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Final figures released by the European Commission have shown that a total of €112m was paid to farmers to reduce their milk production.
Some 48,000 dairy farmers took part in the scheme, which led to a total milk production reduction of 834,000t.
An original budget of €150m was allocated to the scheme. However, this was not all required.
The European Commission is labelling the scheme as a success as it believes it has helped to rebalance the dairy sector throughout Europe.
It believes this is reflected in the rise of EU milk prices in the last year. The average price in April 2017 throughout Europe was 32.79c/kg, an increase of 21% compared to the same month a year earlier.
Originally announced in July of 2016, the scheme ran until January 2017 and offered farmers 14c/l for every kilogramme of milk production that was reduced.
Ireland
In Ireland, payments to some 3,500 farmers who signed up to the first phase of the scheme were made at the end of March. Initially, 4,500 farmers had applied to the milk reduction scheme, but according to the Department, 1,000 farmers opted not to follow through with reducing their milk supply.
The average per-farmer payment was €1,850.
Annual milk price review: what it means for farmers
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