Mr Cahill's comments follow suggestions that the EU Commission is to propose a 2pc increase in milk quotas as part of the next year's CAP health-check.

The ICMSA leader questioned the wisdom of this decision. He claimed that the recent lift in returns from dairying was due to the management of milk supplies at EU level.

He said milk quotas and the EU-wide superlevy were the "essential tools" of this policy and their dilution would have serious consequences for the sector.

"There's a lot of commentary and so-called expert views on the future of dairying that seem to address everything but the actual price of milk," Mr Cahill explained.

"That element calling for an increase, or indeed the abolition, of quotas should face the reality that is the iron law of supply and demand. More product, lower price," he added.

Mr Cahill accepted that there was growing demand for dairy products worldwide. However, he said milk prices could be undermined by a "mad rush to produce more".

Source: Irish Independent