Jackie Cahill (Tipperary, Fianna Fail)
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513. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the tolerances applied when testing fertiliser under SI 248 of 1978; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [41510/24]

Charlie McConalogue (Donegal, Fianna Fail)
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The Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine, samples fertiliser and lime products placed on the market to ensure conformance with Irish legislation under Statutory Instrument (SI) No. 248 of 1978. This legislation ensures that products are labelled accurately and meet minimum nutrient requirements.

Throughout the course of the year, my Department carries out a series of random inspections of fertiliser and lime products and submits these samples for analysis to measure minimum nutrient composition requirements. Compliance is tested for a number of parameters including total nitrogen, phosphorous soluble in neutral ammonium citrate and in water and also water-soluble potassium. Liming products are tested for moisture content, neutralising value and particle size.

The tolerances for fertilisers placed on the market are prescribed in Part III of SI No. 248 of 1978.

Tolerances are the permitted deviation of the measured value of a nutrient from its declared value. They are intended to accommodate variations in manufacturing, sampling and analysis. Where no maximum is given there are no restrictions on an excess of nutrient above the declared amount.

Allowed tolerance for straight and compound fertiliser in respect of the declared nutrient contents vary according to fertiliser types and are expressed as absolute value in percentage by weight. For example:

• The tolerance for the straight nitrogenous fertiliser Calcium Ammonium Nitrate (C.A.N.) containing 26% nitrogen, is ± 0.8; therefore, a sample where the test report shows 26.5% nitrogen is considered within tolerance, while a sample where the report shows 25.1% nitrogen is considered out of tolerance.
• The tolerance for the straight potassic fertiliser muriate of potash (M.O.P.) containing 55% potassium, is ± 0.415; therefore, a sample where the test report shows 55.4 potassium is considered within tolerance, while a sample where the report shows 54.1% potassium is considered out of tolerance.
• The tolerance for the compound ternary fertiliser 18:6:16 (N(%):P2O5(%):K2O(%)), is – 1.9; therefore, a sample where the test report shows 17.7 N, 5.7 total P and 5.5 P water soluble and 11.5% K, is considered out of tolerance (0.3 N + 1.145 P2O5 + 0.6 K2O = 2.045, which is greater than 1.9, therefore out of tolerance): the difference between declared content and result report data are summed combining values at different solubility; in addition elemental values are converted into oxide values.