Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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117. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the extent to which he and his Department continue to monitor the cost of farm inputs including fuel and fertilisers; the action being taken to address any issues arising therefrom; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [25865/24]

Charlie McConalogue (Donegal, Fianna Fail)
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My Department continuously monitors key economic indicators in the agri-food sector, in collaboration with Teagasc and the Central Statistics Office (CSO). There is a particular focus on changes in farm input costs, as well as developments in farm incomes, viability, structures, key commodities and food industry trends.

The CSO releases its Agricultural Price Indices monthly, tracking trends in prices paid to farmers for their produce and prices paid by farmers for purchases of goods and services. Data to March 2024 indicate:

• The Agricultural Output Price Index was 32.2% above its January 2021 level in March 2024, while the equivalent figure for the Agricultural Input Price Index was 26.4%.
• Within the Agricultural Input Price Index, Energy was 53.8% above its January 2021 level; while the equivalent figure for fertilisers was 51.1%, as of March 2024.
• Fertiliser prices were at half their April 2022 peak, when they reached more than treble their January 2021 level, as of March 2024.
• Energy prices were 9% below their level of two years previous as of March 2024.

I will continue to support the sector, including through the implementation of Ireland’s CAP Strategic Plan, which will deliver some €10 billion to Irish farm families in the period to 2027.