An economist from Technological University Dublin has stated that Irish consumers may face higher food prices due to a fertiliser shortage caused by disruptions in shipments through the Strait of Hormuz.

The Strait of Hormuz was declared closed as a result of the Iran conflict, effectively stopping 20% of global oil and gas supplies, The Caspian Post reports, citing foreign media.

Speaking on RTÉ's Morning Ireland, Dr Emma Howard said that the reduction of oil coming through the Strait of Hormuz will affect supply and that alone will result in higher prices.

Oil prices have shot up from $72 (€62) per barrel to $84 (€72) since the attacks began, with the surge in gas prices increasing more dramatically.

Before the conflict, gas prices on Friday were just above €30 per megawatt hour, but they were trading at €60 per megawatt hour as of yesterday.

Dr Howard said that all products will begin to see an increase in prices as so many other resources travel through the strait, such as fertiliser.

She said: "There's a couple of different things for suppliers to worry about. One is they need to factor in the higher cost that they're facing for buying oil and gas at the moment.

"But secondly, they need to factor in the risk and the uncertainty."

Dr Howard added: "As well as the oil and gas going through there, 33% of the world's fertilisers go through that shipping route.

"So, if you think of the knock-on effect on crops and the further knock-on impact on animal agriculture, that is again probably going to feed through to higher food prices.

"Again, the extent of that depends on... how long the conflict lasts for. And obviously, it could just be a spike in prices if this ends soon," she said.

"But if this is prolonged, we're going to see a prolonged and persistent and a good spike in inflation."

Higher energy prices tend to seep into the cost of almost everything - transport, distribution, electricity, the cost of food and pressure for higher wages.

European Central Bank Chief Economist Philip Lane warned yesterday that elevated energy prices could add to the rise in the cost of living.

If the rate of inflation began to surge, the ECB would have to react by increasing interest rates to try to slow down the increase in prices.

Dr Howard said the European eurozone inflation unexpectedly increased yesterday, adding that "we're already seeing the Iran conflict casting its shadow and the flash estimates for February inflation in Ireland that is at about 2.4%"

"Consumers are probably feeling this in their pockets already," Dr Howard said.

On Government supports to offset the increase, she said that cost of living packages were introduced following the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine.

"Those one-off measures were repeated three budgets in a row. And the Government were already spending and pumping a lot of money into an economy that was very strong and resilient.

"And all that did was further increase inflation overall," Dr Howard said.

She said any supports need to be "very properly targeted" because "there's a small minority who will need supports".

However, she said "overall we have a strong economy, we've had real wage growth for the last year and a half, so those people on the upper half of the income distribution can well absorb these price increases".