Paul Lawless
Question:86. Deputy Paul Lawless asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the steps his Department is taking to reduce the cost of farm fertiliser. [35021/26]
View answerThursday, 14 May 2026
Questions (86)
Written answers
Rising input costs are having a significant impact on farmers, their families and businesses. This is a period of challenge and uncertainty for our farm families and I have been working proactively to support them through this period, including through the Fuel Income Support Scheme.
My Department has no function in terms of fertiliser prices beyond the regulatory function of ensuring products placed on the market are in keeping with the fertiliser regulatory framework and that standards such as nutrient content etc. are as described.
However, I continue to monitor the market situation given the impact that fertiliser prices have on Irish agriculture.
Significant work has taken place on Irish farms to improve nutrient use efficiency and the recovery of organic manures at farm level while reducing dependency on chemical fertilisers. Our CAP Strategic Plan supports farmers to adjust their farming practices to reduce reliance on chemical fertiliser and to improve use of organic fertiliser.
To support farmers, Teagasc has published comprehensive information packs for farmers and their advisorsto optimise the use of plant nutrients and to help farmers address the challenge of maintaining their farm outputs in the face of rising fertiliser costs.
This covers issues of soil testing, lime application, nitrogen usage, organic manures, fertiliser spreading and many other topics that will be incredibly useful for farmers.
At Agri Fish Council, I have also repeatedly raised the issue of the effects on price of the introduction of the Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM).
The EU Commission published a draft Regulation amending the original CBAM Regulation which proposes a new Article 27a which would enable the Commission to remove a commodity from the requirements of the CBAM Regulation in the event of serious and unforeseen consequences on price.
Government supports the objective of Article 27a and continues to engage with the Commission on its proposal.
In addition, the EU Commission has confirmed its intention to publish a Fertiliser Action Plan, due shortly, addressing prices and supply. We await an initial draft of the Plan and the proposals it will contain.
Questions Nos. 87 and 88 answered orally.