Martin Heydon (Kildare South, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I agree. Everyone is concerned about what will happen with the tariffs from the United States and the impact they will have on our agrifood sector. America is our second biggest market. We export €2 billion worth of agrifood and drink products to there, with butter and dairy being a key component of that, the butter market alone accounting for nearly €500 million. Of the 59,000 tonnes of butter that the EU exports to the US, 51,000 tonnes comes from Ireland. It is the pride of our Kerrygold brand that it is in such a premium position in the US market. This is why, next week, I will travel to the United States on an agrifood trade mission to meet political representatives in Washington, Irish agrifood companies and American companies that engage with us greatly.

To make sure we can offset the worst impacts, we continue to engage at European level with our counterparts as well. The Tánaiste, as the Minister with responsibility for trade, has dealings with the Commissioner. With my role in the Agriculture and Fisheries Council in Brussels, we continue to make every point about the direct impact that tariffs and countermeasures could have on our agrifood sector.

On the specific question, as the Minister for agriculture, I do not have a role in setting or controlling prices for any commodity, but working with the Minister of State, Deputy Grealish, I have responsibility for working on new market development and trade, making sure we open more opportunities for Ireland, continue to enhance the markets we are in and grow the value added in those places, and continue to seek new markets so that we are never dependent on one individual market. This week is a good example, as Brexit was before, of why we do that.

As part of its role in supporting the sector, however, my Department monitors developments in prices received and costs borne by Irish farmers. The Central Statistics Office reports on a monthly basis agricultural outputs, trends and prices paid to farmers for their produce, and agricultural input prices paid by farmers for purchases of goods and services. Over the 12 months to January 2025, the overall agricultural output price index, which is prices, rose by 20%. The first monthly indications for 2025 are positive, with output prices rising by 2% compared to the previous January and input costs falling by almost 5%.

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