Independent TD for Offaly Carol Nolan has called on the government to explain how Ireland has become dependent on imported fruit and vegetables.

Approximately 83% of produce purchased by Irish consumers is sourced abroad.

Recent trade figures show Ireland imported almost €2 billion worth of fruit and vegetables last year, as the number of local horticultural producers continues to decline.

In 2025, Ireland exported €492.5 million worth of fruit, vegetables and related products, compared with imports of produce totalling €1.97 billion.

That equates to a trade deficit of around €1.47 billion and underlines warnings from the Climate Change Advisory Council (CCAC) last month about Ireland’s “high reliance on the importation of fruit and vegetables”.

Deputy Nolan raised the issue with the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Martin Heydon.

Minister of State at the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Niall Collins replied to Nolan: “I am aware of the recent report from the Climate Change Advisory Council and its recommendations regarding horticulture.

“The government provides significant supports to deliver on the implementation of this strategy for the sector, through a range of supports and initiatives underpinning its resilience, competitiveness and long-term sustainability.”

He added that the government is committed to seeing this sector, grow and flourish in the years ahead and that his department is working collaboratively with stakeholders to progress all key strategic actions in the National Strategy for Horticulture.

In a statement today (Tuesday, October 20), Deputy Nolan said: “Government must stop congratulating itself on strategies and support schemes and instead confront the reality of what has happened to indigenous horticulture over the past generation.

“The obvious question is 'how did we get here?' Ireland is one of the world's great agricultural nations, yet we have reached a point where the vast majority of produce on our supermarket shelves comes from abroad.”

Growers

According to Deputy Nolan, the most startling aspect of the report was not simply the import figure itself but the collapse in the number of Irish growers.

She said: "We are told there are now fewer than 70 commercial vegetable growers operating in Ireland, compared to more than 600 in the 1990s.

The Offaly TD said the government's response amounted to a list of schemes and funding programmes but failed to answer the fundamental question of why domestic production continues to lag so far behind demand.

She said: "The minister points to millions of euro in supports, yet the outcome is that four out of every five fruit and vegetable products purchased in Ireland are imported.

“If they are, then where are the additional growers, where is the increased production and where is the reduction in import dependence?"

Deputy Nolan said that consumers have repeatedly demonstrated a willingness to support Irish-grown food, but growers need a policy environment that allows them to survive, expand and compete.

The independent TD has called on the government to refrain from accepting what some might call the inevitable demise of the sector.

She said: "This did not happen overnight, and it did not happen by accident.

“Government now needs to explain how it intends to reverse this trend because no serious country should be comfortable importing 83% of its fruit and vegetables while its own horticulture sector continues to shrink.

“Irish growers deserve better, and Irish consumers deserve answers.”