Aontú leader Peadar Tóibín has called for emergency supports for farmers given the increase in the cost of fertiliser in recent years.

Tóibín said: "At the start of last year, the average bag of fertiliser cost 223% of what it did in 2010. The Russian invasion of Ukraine and the associated sanctions taken by Ireland and Europe resulted in an unprecedented rise in the cost of fertiliser.

"Few politicians seemed interested in this at the time, but Aontú has been raising the matter persistently with the Minister for Agriculture in the Dáil."

Scale of inflation

He described the scale of the inflation of cost of fertiliser as “colossal” and said that he believes the rise in cost suited this Government's green agenda and suspects that's why they were so reluctant to tackle the problem.

"While I welcome the recent reduction in the cost and inflation, I think the damage has been done - farmers across the country are neck deep in debt, farms are not turning over profits in many instances and farming is becoming less viable as a sole means of income.”

'Heartbreaking'

He referenced the rate at which young people are emigrating and the reducing numbers completing the green cert. He said that it is “heartbreaking” for farmers, “especially those whose families have farmed that land since before the famine”.

Concluding, he said: “We need emergency supports now. For the next few years, the Government should subsidise the cost of fertiliser - we should have fertiliser credits for farmers in the same way that we had electricity credits during the inflation crisis in terms of energy.”