Agriculture Supports
Dail Éireann — 2026-07-09
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Martin Heydon (FG), Kildare South

Deputy Burke's points are well made. I can assure him and the House of one thing, which is that there will be no complacency from me or my colleagues in the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine in terms of the price pressures this has on all of our sectors. Our sectors are very vulnerable. As I pointed out in my earlier answer, we had a good year, by and large, in terms of commodity prices for our products last year, but it is the input costs that can really get people when something like this happens. We saw it with the illegal invasion of Ukraine by Russia back in 2022 and the knock-on impact that had on energy costs and input costs for farmers, which was significant.
Commissioner Hansen has put forward a support package on the fertiliser side. The fuel impact was real and immediate. The fertiliser impact was real too; it is just that there is a lag with that. In allowing for that impact and not knowing where we will be in the autumn as well, there will be an allocation of €15 million under the fertiliser support scheme from the Commission. I am working through the opportunities to try to add to that and how we would do that with a mechanism that would be real for farmers. I reassure the Deputy that I am in no way complacent and absolutely determined to support farmers through this very challenging time.

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Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/dail/2026-07-09/debate/main
Retrieved: 2026-09-14T01:01:07+00:00
Sitting date: 2026-07-09