Hildegarde Naughton (Galway West, Fine Gael)

I welcome the Deputy's question and the opportunity to set out the significant funding that the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine has delivered and continues to deliver in terms of payment schemes for the beef and sheep sectors. Payment schemes for the beef and sheep sector can be divided into two types. First, there are national schemes. In 2025 there are two such schemes supporting the beef and sheep sectors: the national beef welfare scheme and the national sheep welfare scheme. In addition to the national schemes, there are EU schemes supported through Ireland's CAP strategic plan. In 2025 there are two such schemes: the suckler carbon efficiency programme and the sheep improvement scheme.

Returning to the national schemes, the 2025 national beef welfare scheme has a budget allocation of €28 million, all of which will be spent, with payments commencing to cleared cases in early December 2025. The budget allocation is an €8 million, or 40%, increase on the equivalent scheme in 2024. The national beef welfare scheme attracted more farmers than in previous years and more calves will be paid on. This is a testament to the fact that the measures are practical, and farmers can see the clear benefit of participation. However, because of the success of the scheme and resulting oversubscription, to stay within the budget allocation of €28 million and to ensure that all calves up to the maximum of 45 calves are included, a linear adjustment is being applied to the voluntary measures of vaccination, forage analysis and faecal egg count. No adjustment will be applied to the mandatory measure of meal feeding. What this means in practical terms is that the payment rate for a farmer who has applied for all three actions will be €67 per calf on up to 45 calves. In 2024 the payment was €50 per calf, with the maximum number of calves payable being 40. Therefore, the maximum payment in 2025 will be €3,015, a significant increase on the maximum payment of €2,000 in 2024. A farmer with 25 calves would have received €1,250 last year; in 2025 the same farmer will receive €1,675. That is 34% higher than in 2024.

The national sheep welfare scheme has also proved popular beyond projections. The budget allocation in 2025 is €22 million, all of which will be spent. This is a significant increase on the €15 million in 2024. To deal with oversubscription under the 2025 scheme, the control mechanism is to pay for the voluntary action at €3.50, with no adjustment to the payment rate for mandatory actions. In practical terms this means that a farmer who applied for a voluntary action will receive €11.50 per ewe, a significant increase on the €8 per ewe payable under the equivalent 2024 national sheep welfare scheme. For example, a farmer with a 100-ewe flock doing all measures will receive a payment 44% higher than in 2024, that is, €1,150 compared with €800.

The total allocation under these two national schemes is €50 million, and the Department will spend the €50 million on these vital supports for farmers in the coming months. The first of the payments, €16.44 million, under the 2025 national sheep welfare scheme payments was delivered last Monday to over 13,000 farmers. In addition, in the coming weeks, payments will commence under the CSP schemes, namely SCEP and SIS.

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