Mattie McGrath (Tipperary, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Ceann Comhairle for allowing us to raise this Topical Issue matter. It is a hugely important issue. This is going to affect every man, woman and child in the State. The Minister of State might ask how that is. Farmers cannot buy fertiliser. Thankfully, credit unions are stepping in to give loans because the banks are not lending and the Government is standing idly by. We have been told by the European Commission that member state governments can make decisions to intervene and try to lessen the price. Sweden has dropped the price of fuel back to 2018 levels but here we are rubbing our hands and talking about packages for the Luas and everything else. We have to do something about the cost of fertiliser because it is adding pressures across the board, to the food chain, to the housewife and to mum's purse on a Friday evening. People just cannot afford it. The farmers cannot afford it. A Green Party Deputy welcomed the cost of fertiliser because he said it would stop people using nitrogen and everything else. That is a warped kind of thinking. Farmers, including mixed farmers, dairy men and everything else practise good animal husbandry. They want to have good fresh grass and fresh produce and to be able to produce it at a reasonable cost, which they can pass on in the price of milk and everything else. If this keeps spiralling out of control, the housewife and mum's purse, or the househusband or whoever else, will not be able to afford to live. It is unbelievable.

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