Michael McNamara (Clare, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I raised this issue with the Taoiseach and the Tánaiste earlier in the year and they said that the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine was meeting EU agriculture ministers and would be able to detail what was happening afterwards. When the Minister met the EU agriculture ministers, did he call for a reduction in or the abolition of EU import tariffs on fertiliser? I appreciate that is not something he can do unilaterally but it is something the EU agriculture ministers can do if they put their minds to it. Did he call for that and is it going to happen?

The Minister talked about incentives to ensure there are full sheds of hay and pits of silage at the end of the year but there is an obstacle to that which the Minister can deal with unilaterally. Farmers with low-input permanent pasture cannot cut hay and silage if they are in GLAS. The Minister is trying to incentivise them to do so but they cannot. Will they, on a temporary basis for this year or for as long as this fertiliser crisis lasts, be allowed to cut silage? Likewise, traditional hay meadows can only be cut once because cutting can only take place after a certain deadline. Will that deadline be brought forward to allow for a second cut this year? These are matters the Minister can deal with unilaterally.

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