An Independent TD has urged Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Charlie McConalogue to urgently investigate “the massive disparity in regional fertiliser costs”.
In a letter to the minister, Cork South-West TD Michael Collins called for a meeting between the Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine and Minister McConalogue to examine the issue.
He said that officials from the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (DAFM) and industry representatives should also address the committee.
Deputy Collins said that he is personally aware that farmers in Co. Kildare have the option of purchasing fertiliser for €620/t while farmers in west Cork are being charged at least €800/t for the equivalent type and quantity.
“As long as fertiliser costs remain at their historically elevated levels, every effort must be made to address and minimise the wide and inexplicable price disparities that we are coming across at the local level,” he said.
“I am being told directly by some farmers that the price differential is a cause of increasing concern for them and this is leading to significant levels of anger because of the cost and access burdens that are then created.
“We have had a lot of talk at government level and indeed at departmental level around Unfair Trading Practices (UTP) and the work of the UTP Enforcement Authority.
“I am suggesting that there may be a role for the investigation of this issue in the context of unfair pricing regulations,” the TD continued.
“That is certainly something I will be seeking clarity on from the minister in terms of whether there is scope within the existing legislation to address issues like this.
“There must be fair play. That is what I am saying. Farmers are already under severe enough strain without this becoming a dominant feature of the Irish fertiliser market,” Collins said.