The Central Statistics Office, CSO, monitors and collects data on the price of fertilisers on a monthly basis. In addition, my Department receives data on the type and quantity of fertilisers and lime sold on a quarterly basis from industry and both sources are used to calculate the overall input costs of fertiliser on a national basis.
Total fertiliser costs of €503.2 million were recorded for 2015-16. Currently, Europe is only 80% self-sufficient in fertiliser production and must import 20% of its requirements. As such, European and Irish fertiliser prices are strongly linked to global prices and heavily influenced by supply and demand.
Question No. 490 postponed.