Seán Canney (Galway East, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I have listened with interest to the questions and answers during this meeting. I come from a rural area and see what is happening in rural Ireland with the explosions in the prices of fuel, grain supply, fertilisers and so on, and the impact they will have. The short-term impact is such that the price of diesel and other fuel for cars has increased, as has the cost of heating and so on. These increases in the cost of living mean people have less spending power. There is also the issue of people on fixed incomes, who are again being negatively affected, and profoundly so, by the cost of living, heating their homes and all that goes with that.

Should we now consider taking very immediate measures by reducing VAT on these commodities in the short term to allow people to survive through the short term? As for the long term, I expect we will see the full effects of the war in Ukraine when we reach the next harvest, from a farming point of view, and when we see how much has been produced, given the more than threefold increase in the price of the likes of fertiliser. Buying 1 tonne of fertiliser, for example, will cost €250 more than it did last week. People are just not buying fertiliser to grow grass to feed cows to produce milk and the food we need because they cannot afford it. We are in a perfect storm and that drives up prices and creates scarcity. Should we now, as an emergency, consider cutting excise, VAT and carbon tax for the moment because of what is happening?

Moreover, should we help farmers by giving them a subvention to allow them to buy the fertiliser and seed they need to be able to create the food supply for feedstock and people for next winter?