Jackie Cahill (Tipperary, Fianna Fail)
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411. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine to outline the checks carried out by his Department on fertiliser in terms of N, P and K content; the number of samples and checks carried out in 2023 and to date in 2024; the outcomes of the tests in 2023 and to date in 2024; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [40094/24]

Charlie McConalogue (Donegal, Fianna Fail)
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My Department takes samples of fertiliser products placed on the market to verify compliance with Irish legislation under Statutory Instrument No. 248 of 1978. This legislation provides for the labelling of products and sets out the minimum nutrient requirements that must be met (Part 3 of the Schedule of SI 248 of 1978 refers).

The Department has an annual inspection programme, which involves inspections and sampling of fertiliser products. The fertiliser products are tested for a range of parameters specified in the legislation, including Nitrogen, Phosphorus and Potassium. The sample analyses are carried out by the State Laboratory, employing a number of different internationally recognised methods of determination.

There are Standard Operation Procedures for sampling fertilisers, which includes sampling from bagged product, stockpiled product and free-falling finished product. Samples are taken from sample portions ranging from 2 to 40 tonnes, through a process of reduction intended to produce representative final sample portions for testing purposes.

The table below outlines the results of sample analysis for 2023 and to date in 2024: