Taking his opportunity during priority questions in the Dáil on Wednesday, Deputy Martin Ferris of Sinn Féin asked the Minister for Agriculture Simon Coveney for more details relating to the case and the decision not to prosecute. The Deputy was following up on the Minister’s reply to his Parliamentary Question on 22 September 2015, where the minister said that having regard to an opinion from the Chief State Solicitor’s Office (CSSO), and “having considered all of the facts, the recommendation from my Department is that on balance, a prosecution is not warranted in this instance.”

The minister said he was satisfied that all superlevies in this case have been paid in full and there had been no financial loss to the Exchequer, to farmers or to the EU.

Yesterday in the Dáíl the Deputy asked the minister to expand on his reply and explain exactly what the opinion of the CSSO was in this case. The minister said that in January 2014 his Department was made aware of an irregularity involving a Glanbia milk supplier who was accrediting his milk supply to the dairy herd in Clongowes Wood College. This milk was then being sold to Glanbia. Under EU milk quota regulations, abolished on 31 March this year, crediting milk produced on one holding to another holding was disallowed.

Corrective actions

He said that once he became aware of the irregularity his Department recommended a series of corrective actions including the re-allocation of milk to the original supplier and the payment of the superlevy fine by the supplier concerned.

“All such corrective actions were completed within the relevant milk quota year, and the end of year annual declaration for the milk producers concerned reflected the adjusted and corrected position,” he said.

Coveney said he then asked for the relevant papers to be sent to the CSSO for advice on whether an offence had been committed and the possibility and likelihood of a successful prosecution. He said the CSSO subsequently appointed a prosecuting counsel to examine the facts of the case. The counsel’s report was then forwarded to his department.

The minister said that “having regard to the counsel’s opinion and having considered all the matters in the case, it was recommended that a prosecution not be pursued. I accepted this recommendation. In making the recommendation the Department took a number of factors into account, including the likelihood of a successful prosecution given the details of the case and the standard of proof required.”

Coveney confirmed that there had been no financial gain for any of the parties concerned and the parties’ obligations under milk quota regulations had been met.

Deputy Ferris was not satisfied with the response of the minister and highlighted that in the facts of the case some 500,000 litres of milk were transferred 110 miles to Clongowes Wood by the Glanbia milk supplier.

He said this was "an attempt to commit fraud" – and "had it not been discovered the corrective actions would not have taken place."

He said the minister had not clarified why a prosecution could not take place and said the decision not to prosecute the milk supplier was damaging for the industry.

The amount transferred between the two holdings is understood to be worth in the region of €300,000 and the producer is still on the board of Glanbia.

Coveney replied that his Department carried out a full investigation into the matter and took a very serious view of what it understood to be the situation.

Reaction

Responding to the decision not to prosecute, in a statement issued to the Irish Farmers Journal, Glanbia said it has "fully cooperated with the investigation into the matter by the Department of Agriculture which has now concluded.”