Colm Brophy (Dublin South West, Fine Gael)

I thank the Senator for raising the matter. As she is aware, there is a commitment in the Programme for Government: Securing Ireland's Future to "Deliver a scheme that recognises the category of farmers known as the 'Forgotten Farmers'." Since the time the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine was first approached in 2015 with regard to the group commonly referred to as forgotten farmers, the group was defined as young farmers who were under the age of 40 in 2015, had established their holdings prior to 2008, held no or low-value payment entitlements and were ineligible for young farmer supports under the CAP from 2015. The request for support for the forgotten farmer group in 2015 was for inclusion under the basic payment scheme national reserve as a group suffering from specific disadvantage. This definition of forgotten farmer has remained consistent since 2015.

Budget 2025 provided an allocation of €5 million to deliver on the programme for Government commitment and in 2025 the Department developed the scheme to support the long-established young farmers to address the commitment in the programme for Government. The scheme was implemented in two phases. Phase 1 saw the opening of an online survey on 7 May 2025 in preparation for a scheme to support long-established young farmers. This survey remained open for submissions for over three weeks until Friday, 30 May 2025 to assist in determining the number of farmers who met the long-standing criteria for forgotten farmers. The survey required participants to indicate they met the qualifying criteria for the proposed scheme. The launch of this survey was widely reported in the farming media, both online and in hard copy. Phase 2 saw the opening of online applications under the scheme to support long-established young farmers on 22 July 2025. The online application system remained open for over three weeks and closed on 13 August 2025. This online application required applicants to confirm they met the eligibility criteria under the scheme and to also upload documentation in support of their date of birth and agricultural educational qualifications.

As was the case with the online survey launched as the first phase of this scheme, the launch of the online application system was widely reported in the farming media, both online and in hard copy. In addition, in advance of the closing date the Department issued text message reminders to potential applicants whose applications were still in draft in order to ensure these applications could be submitted. When online applications closed under the scheme there were 1,254 applications submitted. These applications are currently being assessed against the scheme's terms and conditions to determine eligibility. Applicants will be notified of the outcome of their application when this process has been completed in due course. It is expected payments will be made to successful applicants in early December 2025. The application window for the scheme to support long-established young farmers closed on 13 August and there are no plans to extend the eligibility criteria or to provide for another scheme in future years.

As has been mentioned previously, both the online survey launched as the first phase of the scheme in May and the online application system launched as the second phase in July were widely publicised in the farming media to raise the awareness of prospective applicants to the availability of the support scheme. The window to submit applications closed at 5.30 p.m. on 13 August 2025 and, as per the terms and conditions of the scheme, late applications are deemed inadmissible and there are no plans to extend the deadline.