In his statement accompanying the annual report of the National Milk Agency, chair Denis Murphy said that members have sought ministerial consent to increase the agency’s milk levy from 0.115c/l to 0.155c/l.

He said that continuing annual deficits at the agency had, since 2016, depleted its cash fund.

In 2015, that cash fund stood at €1,082,997. By the end of 2024, the years of small operating deficits had reduced it to €724,641. The deficit recorded in 2024 was €41,574, an improvement from the €60,525 deficit recorded in 2023.

Murphy, who has been the chair of the agency for 30 years, said that the levy had been reduced from 0.145c/l to 0.115c/l in April 2013 and had remained at that level since.

The milk levy is charged on milk produced in the Republic of Ireland for liquid milk consumption and is paid to the National Milk Agency by processors. Liquid milk imported from Northern Ireland is not subject to the levy.

The majority of operating costs at the agency, which have dropped by €100,000 over the past decade, consist of the wages for the CEO and three staff members.

Travel, legal, rent and communications expenses have fallen.

The National Milk Agency had a depreciation charge of only €570 in 2024 and fixed assets at the end of the year valued at €1,444.

If the milk levy had been at 0.155c/l in 2024, the agency would have run a surplus of over €115,000.