Mr. Pat McCormack:

I thank the Deputy for his question and for his acknowledgement of the fact that dairy farmers are under a significant price squeeze. I hope that leads to his support for calling for dairy farmers to be part of the fodder scheme.

I will take the Deputy's questions together. Mr. Rushe alluded to the differences in fertiliser prices and discussed whether the CCPC should investigate the 2023 figures. We need to examine the 2022 figures as well. We saw private entities and, in particular, co-ops closing for quotations on a Tuesday and opening on the following Monday with no inward movement of stock yet a significant upward movement in price. There was certainly a degree of jumping on the bandwagon in that regard.

What is important is that, once the Minister or the CCPC or both make findings, there be action. We cannot afford to let cobwebs gather on this, given the potential for a recurrence. We are on the periphery of Europe and, as Mr. Keane mentioned, we are producing a niche product from grass. We are exposed to input costs. According to a newspaper headline this week, we are the most expensive country in Europe for electricity. We need not confine this examination to fertiliser, as a number of inputs need to be investigated, given the escalation of prices when the price of gas increased and an absence of significant and timely reductions when its price decreased.