While it is "too early to assess the full impact" of increased energy and fertiliser costs, any spike in prices will "obviously have an impact on farmers' margins".

Minister Michael Healy-Rae told the Dáil this morning (Thursday, March 19) that the impact on fertiliser price "will depend on how long the disruption lasts".

Minister Healy-Rae said his department is "closely monitoring developments" regarding input costs as a result of the current conflict in the Middle East.

"The government will continuously assess the situation and try to respond in the most proactive and helpful way that we can," he said.

CBAM

The minister said that "ironically, the concern of the price-raising effect of the CBAM caused the Irish fertiliser industry to purchase significant volumes of product in advance of it coming into full effect on January 1".

The Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM) is effectively a tax on imports of carbon-intensive products into the EU, including fertiliser.

"It is understood that there may be sufficient fertiliser stocks to last until mid-April," Minister Healy-Rae said.

"The National Fertiliser Database import figures show fertiliser stocks increased significantly during Q4 of 2025.

"Many farmers may have bought fertiliser already, and a fertiliser price shock may not be as acute as the spring of 2022."

He said in 2022, a pallet of fertiliser "was like a pallet of gold because of the massive increase in price at that time".

"We would hope that we will be able to avoid a situation like that," Minister Healy-Rae added.

Horticulture

He was responding to questions from Labour Party TD Robert O'Donoghue, who asked what assessments the Department of Agriculture has made in relation to the likely consequences for fertiliser prices.

In particular, the TD said horticultural growers are "already under severe cost pressures and further increases to the price of fertiliser due to the conflict in the Middle East could undermine domestic food production".

He has urged the minister to consider the introduction of a horticulture crisis fund, similar to that in 2022.

"Our growers need support, and they need it urgently," deputy O'Donoghue told the minister.

Vulnerable to shocks

Minister Healy-Rae told the Dáil that agriculture in the EU as a whole is "vulnerable to the shocks in availability and price of fertiliser due to limited internal production capacity and a reliance on imports".

"Ireland does not produce fertilisers and therefore is exposed to the market shifts," he said.

"The impact will depend on how long the disruption lasts, whether physical energy production infrastructure is damaged, how secondary markets respond.

"My department is meeting with fertiliser importers this week and we'll continue to monitor the situation closely."