The Sinn Féin spokesperson on agriculture has called on the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (DAFM) to make efforts to ensure the continued movement of poultry manure from Northern Ireland.

Deputy Martin Kenny said that, since the start of June, the importation of poultry manure from Northern Ireland has been suspended.

This is apparently due to objections raised by Northern Ireland's Shared Environmental Services (SES), which oversees the habitats and nature functions of Northern Ireland's local councils.

According to Deputy Kenny, the SES is concerned that poultry manure from Northern Ireland could be spread on or near designated land in the Republic of Ireland.

Deputy Kenny said the suspension of poultry manure movements "is impacting farmers both north and south of the border, where poultry farmers in the North cannot get rid of the poultry manure and the farmers in the South cannot get access to it for fertiliser".

"At a time when fertiliser costs are skyrocketing, this suspension is going to cause further financial hardship for farmers who will have to purchase chemical fertilisers in the absence of poultry manure," he added.

The Sligo-Leitrim TD called on DAFM to end the suspension of movements, and he called on the government to engage with its Northern Ireland counterparts to come up with a solution to the issue.

"There needs to be greater all-island cooperation on nutrient management. It is well known that there is a surplus of phosphorous in land in the North and a deficit in the South," he said.

The Sinn Féin agriculture spokesperson raised the issue in the Dáil yesterday (Thursday, June 11), where Minister for Enterprise, Tourism and Employment Peter Burke was taking questions.

Minister Burke didn't give an undertaking for the government to address the issue, but he did say he would raise the matter with DAFM, and Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine Martin Heydon.