The Department of Agriculture confirmed that the country is expected to finish the final quota year 4.34% over-quota. This equates to a superlevy bill of €69m meaning that farmers will have €23m bill each for the next three years.

According to the Department, the 4.34% figure is an estimate based on returns to the Department by the co-ops, taking into account the relevant butterfat adjustment. The confirmed final position will not be available until August when all flexi milk is distributed and all returns have been received.

Agriculture Minister Simon Coveney said farmers made significant efforts to reduce the superlevy bill over the course of the year.

“While this end of year figure is still only an estimate, it appears that farmers have continued to make substantial efforts over the last number of months to manage their supplies. The current position represents a significant improvement in production management since last October when the estimated milk quota position was 7.15% over quota,” he said.

“Unfortunately however, this end of year over production still represents a superlevy bill of approximately €69m. This is the very last superlevy bill that Irish farmers will face. The facility for farmers to pay the bill in instalments, as announced by Commissioner Hogan, will help them to deal with the cash flow challenge. My Department is currently finalising the implementation details and I will be making a further announcement in this regard very soon,” the Minister added.

Earlier this week it was revealed that the Department of Agriculture was drawing up a statutory instrument for handling the superlevy bill. Under the plan, over-quota farmers would pay an equal one third of their superlevy bill in each of the three years 2015 to 2017.