Martin Kenny (Sligo-Leitrim, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

The other Deputies are not available so I will be raising this Topical Issue matter on my own. I raised this issue, and asked my colleagues to do so as well, because many farmers all over the country are concerned about the rise in the price of agricultural diesel.

Last night, I attended an Irish Farmers Association, IFA, meeting in Ballymote mart. There were many farmers there who are concerned about the rising input costs for their work. This morning I heard on the radio that farm incomes are up, and we welcome that. Farmers in some sectors are doing much better than they had been from the point of view of the prices they are getting. It was acknowledged by the farmers last night that cattle and sheep prices are up. Although those prices are up, they have not doubled. I say this because the cost of everything else seems to have doubled and more than doubled. Certainly, the price of fertiliser has doubled and, in some cases, tripled. The price of agricultural diesel was something that they had a particular focus on because we are coming into the time of year when many farmers are trying to get their silage cut and wrapped. All of those costs are going up as well.

The farmers focused particularly on diesel. They made the valid point that the price of agricultural diesel is approximately €1.50 per litre at the moment. Therefore, 1,000 l of diesel costs them €1,500. This time last year it cost €0.78 per litre. It cost €780 per 1,000 l. It has therefore doubled in price. There was a man present last night who is in the road haulage business and has trucks. He is buying white diesel as well. The cost of white diesel has also gone up, although it has not gone up to the same extent. If there was apro rata rise with agricultural diesel costs doubling, one would expect that road diesel would double as well and would be over €3 per litre now, but it is not. As we know, it is still very high, at approximately €2.10 to €2.15 per litre around the country. This is an issue on which there needs to be a focus. The Government may say that it has done little bits of tinkering around with excise duties but the reality is that enough has not been done to help this sector, which needs a break in regard to these costs, particularly the costs around agricultural diesel.

The other issue that was acknowledged by farmers last night is that there is pressure on the farming community across Ireland and indeed across Europe to be more self-sufficient, to grow more food and to produce more food. This is particularly the case in the context of the crisis in Ukraine. The outcome of that is that we have a food security crisis as well as a cost-of-living crisis and an oil crisis. That puts pressure on the farming community to produce the goods. If they can produce the goods, they will do so. They will do their very best to do that. They are prepared to do that. However, they need a break in regard to the input costs anywhere the Government can help them, particularly around the issues of fertiliser and diesel. The Minister of State will acknowledge that the same problems are found in his constituency, where farmers are paying very high prices for diesel. The Government needs to sit up and listen to this plea. It needs to do something to get that cost down. There is no point in taking it down by 5 cent or 10 cent per litre and then coming out with a carbon tax that puts it back up by 5 or 10 cent per litre, which has happened in the past. We need to get something real that will have a benefit to farmers so they can see that their Government cares about ensuring they will be in a position to increase their production, to grow more food and to ensure there will not be a food security crisis across Europe.

See this speech in context