Charlie McConalogue (Donegal, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Senator for raising this issue. He has his finger on the pulse regarding the importance of this issue for farmers and the fact that it will be a significant issue in the year ahead. We have found that to be the case during the autumn. There is no doubt that the situation has become more acute in terms of the inflation we are seeing and, indeed, it is going to be a significant factor for 2022.

Ireland, as a member of the EU, supports an open, rules-based trading environment. However, we recognise the need to ensure that agreed trade rules are applied uniformly with full transparency to ensure that wider commercial interests are maintained, and that EU industry is not unfairly disadvantaged as a result of third-country trade practices that might distort EU internal market dynamics, particularly referring to the issue of fertiliser, fertiliser tariffs, and anti-dumping tariffs and their role in pricing. It is for that reason that the European Commission operates a comprehensive trade defence system that seeks to strike an appropriate balance between user and producer interests when there is clear evidence that trading practices in foreign jurisdictions are having a distorting effect within the Single Market.

These trade defence instruments can include the application of duties on goods. This is the case in a number of fertiliser products, specifically urea and ammonium nitrate, UAN, and ammonium nitrate, being imported into the EU from a number of third countries. Anti-dumping fixed rate duties range from €22.24 per tonne to €42.47 per tonne. These duties are imposed on UAN that originates from Russia, Trinidad and Tobago and the US. As the latest measures were imposed in 2019, no full review of these measures is expected until 2024.

Ammonium nitrate, which is a key ingredient in calcium ammonium nitrate, CAN, is one of the main types of fertiliser that are used by many Irish farmers. Anti-dumping fixed rate duties range from €28.78 per tonne to €32.71 per tonne and are imposed on products that originate from Russia. As the latest measures were imposed in 2020, no review of these measures is expected until 2025. However, as provided for in EU regulations, an interim review can be initiated once the current measures have been in place for one year.

As has been discussed in this House in the past month, it is quite clear that there has been a sharp increase in fertiliser prices over the past year, particularly in recent months as pointed out by the Senator. I am very conscious of the impact that these price increases have had at farm level. The fertiliser market is driven by global supply and demand with several factors that influence the price of fertilisers. The major driving factors for the increase in prices over the recent period has been the increase in the price of raw material and the cost of energy production. There is also protectionism by global players and issues with the supply of certain fertiliser products.

The imposition of the anti-dumping tariffs from certain third countries is an additional, albeit secondary, factor when imported into the EU from these producing countries. At the November meeting of the Agriculture and Fisheries Council, I raised the increasing challenge faced by farmers around fertiliser prices. I called on the EU Commission to consider all options to ease the pressure on farmers at this time, including the question of whether the imposition of anti-dumping duties on fertiliser imports continues to be appropriate. Indeed, I called for this matter to be examined as a priority. Last week, I wrote to the EU Commissioner for Agriculture, Mr. Janusz Wojciechowski, asking him to finalise the Commission's examination of the tariffs.

With fertiliser prices constituting such a high portion of farmers' expenditure, I am aware that the impact of rising fertiliser prices will very much have a negative effect on farmers' incomes. Ireland will remain a fertiliser price-taker in this regard as no fertilisers are manufactured in Ireland, rather fertiliser companies blend a number of imported fertiliser products into different compositions that are suitable for agricultural use in Ireland.

In line with the farm to fork strategy at European level, the climate action plan commits to a more targeted and reduced use of chemical nitrogen fertiliser over the time ahead, while maintaining the same level of grass produced through more use of multi-species sward and clover swards, for example. I engage regularly with the farming organisations and have introduced a number of initiatives to support farmers to reduce their dependence on chemical fertiliser such as the planting of multi-species sward and introduced a support for that. Recently, I also introduced a pilot soil sampling programme. Additionally, I have asked Teagasc to develop a roadmap for farmers to reduce the use of chemical fertilisers on farms. I expect to be able to publish this report before the end of next year.

Finally, the Senator made a specific suggestion for the constituency of Cavan-Monaghan, which I will deal with in my further response.