Ireland has not seen the biggest pressure on fertiliser “yet”, according to the chair of the Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture and Food.

Cork North-West Fianna Fáil TD Aindrias Moynihan was speaking to Agriland at the National Ploughing Championships.

He said: “People in rural communities and in farming are very much under pressure, for sure.

“And, yeah, I've been meeting people and discussing that through with them.”

The TD noted that people he met were “keen to see how we can use the budget for to ease some of that pressure on them”.

He added that they were also talking about how the new Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) “could be shaped towards supporting people in rural communities, and for to be able to keep farming, to make it viable, and that people would be able to earn a living on it”.

Budget

Ahead of the budget, Deputy Moynihan said that there was “no silver bullet” due to the varied nature of the issues facing farmers.

He added:  "There's a lot of external pressures that we wouldn't have had in previous times, whether it's the likes of the war impacting on fertiliser and on fuel."

The TD described the fertiliser issue as “hugely significant”.

He also said that the Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM) has impacted fertiliser purchases in the country.

CBAM, which came into force on January 1, is essentially a tax on imports of carbon-intensive products into the EU, including fertiliser.

Deputy Moynihan said: “I don't think that we've seen the biggest pressure on the fertiliser yet."

He highlighted that "a lot of fertiliser" was brought in ahead of CBAM this year, which might have softened some of the impact on product costs.

"It would be an area that would definitely need the maximum support on it," he said.

The TD added that stopping the conflict in the Middle East would "definitely" ease a lot of the pressure.

Agricultural committee agenda

As he returns to the Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture and Food after the summer break, Deputy Moynihan said: “We want to make sure that the issues of the day are front and centre.


“And in addition to that, this term now, in the run into Christmas, there's going to be more focus on legislation as well, where we have the dog breeding, and animal welfare legislation coming down the track, also legislation in deforestation, and forestry.”

While he admits that legislation work will take up some of the committee’s time, the TD said that they intend to focus on the key topics affecting the agricultural sector