Danny Healy-Rae (Kerry, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I support Deputy McNamara's amendment because it is important to attain transparency as to what is going on. We know what the farmers would like. Deputy McNamara said we know what the farmers are getting at any time, we know what the consumers are paying at any time, but we do not know what is happening in between.

A year or so ago, farmers' costs rose dramatically, mainly fertiliser costs and the cost of diesel, oil and anything connected with oil such as plastics for silage bales and plastic covering. They are all still practically double what they were in 2021. Even the white diesel has not come down in proportion to petrol. White diesel has come down. I have been calling for transparency in this for quite a while now.

I cannot understand how, when the cost of oil started to go up, green diesel and home heating oil were all around 38 cent a litre, they went up gradually and crept up to 90 cent a litre, and then all of a sudden they went up to €1.48 a litre. That was practically three and a half times the original cost but yet it has not gone down to €1 today. We will see now.

Following the increase in the farmers' costs, they had to put up the cost of their produce and, accordingly, the consumer paid the resultant cost included. Whatever cost was decided to be put on by the retailers or by the multinational supermarkets, we do not know how they came to decide the cost they were charging for the litre of milk, the loaf of bread or whatever. All those food items increased dramatically. Now we see that, taking the milk alone, they are reducing it but the price to the farmer is reduced dramatically. Farmers borrowed to improve their systems and it is only a few years since they were told to increase production. When they are in that vein, they have to continue. It is not like a water tap they can turn off. When they are in a mode, they have to remain going.

I am saying to the Minister that we need regulation and transparency as to what is happening in between with the multinationals. Of course they are collaborating because if one of them drops the price, they all seem to be able to do it. Then when they increase it, they all seem to be able to do it. I wonder what kind of trading practices they are subscribing to. Producers depend so much on the last cent they get for their produce to remain viable and keep going.

Farmers are at times lambasted for getting payments in the post and that they are being seen after, but we know, as do others, that is only compensation for not being paid properly for the produce in the first place. All those things need to be taken into account.

We see the price of milk has reduced so much in a few months and we need to get to the root of it to see what is happening because farmers' costs are still very substantial.

The price of white diesel has reduced somewhat, but the price of fertiliser is still double what it was in 2021, before the co-operatives and the sources of fertiliser raised their prices. They had bought it at a low price in 2021 and held it back until the spring of 2022, when they doubled and trebled the cost of it. I have been calling for some kind of an investigation into what is going on in that regard because farmers are hit when something like this happens, but so too are consumers. Everyone is complaining about the cost of food. It is still very expensive and wages are not going as far as they were. The increases in these prices have a domino effect.

I will support Deputy McNamara's amendment. We need to know what is happening between when the product leaves the farmer's gate and when the housewife buys it over the shop counter. An awful lot happens in between. Any regulator needs to have power to suss out what is going on and ensure fairness will be applied both ways, that is, to the farmer and to the housewife.

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