There will be no government-backed investigation into the price farmers are paying for fertiliser in Ireland, according to the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Charlie McConalogue.
The minister told Agriland‘ that fertiliser prices are “outside” of his control as minister. He said it is a “market issue”.
“It’s important that farmers do plan and prepare in that regard. We want to see market returns being returned to farmers, it is something that is outside of my control as minister, there is no point in saying anything else,” the minister stated.
The Taoiseach, Leo Varadkar, previously acknowledged in the Dáil that “the price of fertiliser has gone through the roof in the last year or so”.
“I do not see why there should be a major disparity between the prices that farmers pay for fertilisers here versus in the UK or other parts of western Europe,” he told the Dáil.
He pledged to speak to the Minister for agriculture, food and the marine about it.
But Minister McConalogue told Agriland that while there were “certain things” he could control as minister, the “fertiliser market is a private market”.
Separately, the minister has said there is a “real challenge in the sheep sector at the moment” but he has not confirmed if there will be an immediate rescue package for the sheep sector.
The minister said he had “his budget for the year” but that he had “tasked” his officials at the Department of Agriculture, Food and Marine (DAFM) to “assess what capacity he might have to do extra for the sheep sector”.
He said that he had not ruled out seeking funding from the Brexit Adjustment Reserve (BAR) to support the sector but he said that in relation to the BAR there was a “very specific qualification criteria for it”.
“Obviously if I do anything I have to find budget it for it, I have a certain budget for the year,” the minister stated.
Meanwhile, Minister McConalogue also confirmed to Agriland that the Irish government has not made a “formal submission” to the European Commission to secure sign off for its proposed new €1.3 billion Forestry Programme 2023-2027.
The minister also confirmed that in relation to Coillte, there are no new mechanisms in place as yet to ensure that the organisation works closer with the state.
Watch the minister go ‘On the Record’ with Agriland in the video above.