Fertiliser Database hearing suggests TDs have little interest in farmers’ plight

Legislation underpinning a new National Fertiliser Database, which was published by the Department of Agriculture this summer, will give sweeping powers to monitor fertiliser use and enforce rules regarding its use on farms.

Under the legislation, farmers can be stripped of the right to buy, hold or spread fertiliser under the new laws.

Its key role will be in aiding the sector in reducing chemical fertiliser use and will allow the Department to track that reduction down to the individual farm level.

It’s a significant piece of legislation, with farmers required to register as “professional fertiliser end users”.

The database, which comes into effect from January, is probably one of the most significant changes to regulations within the sector in recent years, yet a recent Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture meeting dealing with the regulation last week had what can only be described as minimal engagement from TDs.

All members of the Agriculture Committee are invited to the hearings, but last week, in the first of three such hearings on the subject, just five of the Committee’s 14 TDs and Senators turned up.

They were the usual subjects that have always taken an interest in agriculture affairs: Fine Gael’s Tim Lombard, who chaired the session, Independent TD Michael Fitzmaurice, Sinn Fein’s Matt Carthy and Martin Browne, and Fianna Fail’s Paul Daly.

More and more in recent years, I am hearing farmers and their representatives saying it is getting difficult to get politicians to really engage on ‘nuts and bolts’ agricultural issues.

The feedback I’m getting is that aside from a few agri-stalwarts, many TDs have no interest in the nitty-gritty of agricultural issues.

While TDs from all over the country will send queries to the Department on individual issues for their constituents each week, there seems to be a real lack of engagement in important agricultural policy decisions.

As farmers face a plethora of new laws and regulations as the climate agenda ramps up, it’s vital that these changes are thoroughly discussed, debated and improved before being signed into law.