Horticulture Sector
Dail Éireann — 2026-03-19
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Robert O'Donoghue (LAB), Dublin Fingal West

I could not agree more with the Minister of State. We should buy Irish. We should all be looking at that. The horticulture sector is under immense pressure due to conflict and climate change, and costs have rapidly increased over the past 20 years. I have worked in the sector. I know the amount of toil that goes into it. I have picked and packed every fruit and vegetable under the sun at some point in the past 30 years. When we had 54 days of rain in the north county, that did not make it easier to plough or to plant. Welgro produce cucumbers in glasshouses in Rush. It uses gas to heat the glasshouses to grow the vegetables. Its energy costs will go from €200,000 to €400,000 a year if prices remain the same.
That is with fertiliser prices on top. This snowballing of costs is not viable. Our growers need support and they need it urgently. I implore the Minister of State to look at introducing a crisis horticulture fund, like we did during the price spike arising from the war in Ukraine.

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Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/dail/2026-03-19/debate/main
Retrieved: 2026-08-14T04:54:45+00:00
Sitting date: 2026-03-19