More than €1 million to be paid to sheep farmers in Wicklow
The Wicklow PeopleAgriculture Minister Martin Heydon believes the changes will provide a positive boost for farmers.
“When combined with the €12 per ewe available under the CAP Strategic Plan Sheep Improvement Scheme, this means sheep farmers in both schemes will receive up to €23.50 per ewe, an increase of 17.5pc per ewe on last year’s combined payment.
“My department will continue to process, as a matter of urgency, all remaining cases for payment as they meet scheme criteria, but I would urge applicants in the scheme who have received correspondence from my Department, to respond as quickly as possible to ensure their payment can be processed”.
Wicklow TD Edward Timmins believes the allocation for farmers is a good outcome.
“These payments are crucial to the sheep sector and farm families in Wicklow, and I’m pleased that the Minister for Agriculture, Martin Heydon fought for and secured a further €22 million for a similar scheme in 2026. As a result of the oversubscription in the scheme, it was necessary to adjust the payment rate to €11.50 per ewe which is still a 44pc increase from the €8 per ewe paid under the scheme in 2024.
In total, €16.44 million in payments will be paid to 13,177 farmers around the country. This represents just over 90% of farmers who chose the completion date of October 17, 2025, for their chosen actions.
A further pay run will occur in mid-December 2025 for those farmers who chose the later completion date of November 28, 2025, for their actions.
However, sheep farmers are reportedly "furious" at the "failure to honour the commitment" to pay €13/ewe for completing all the actions of the scheme.
Irish Farmers' Association (IFA) sheep chair Adrian Gallagher said: "If there is a will from the minister and his government colleagues to resolve this issue, then there is a way.”
Farmers were required to complete two actions from category A, which were mandatory actions, and one action from category B, which were optional or voluntary actions.
The completion of all three actions will result in a payment of €11.50/ewe.
"It’s up to the minister to find the €2.4 million for the sheep scheme,” Mr Gallagher said.
“Sheep farmers entered a contract with the minister in good faith when applying to the scheme and carrying out the actions.
"These are all costed actions based on income foregone, cost incurred.
"This was on the clear understanding they would receive €13/ewe for investing in these measures on their farms." Gallagher highlighted that the sheep sector is in "serious decline" in recent years.
"There will be over 800,000 fewer lambs processed this year compared to 2023, with farmers no longer prepared to keep working for nothing," he said.
Mr Gallagher has urged TDs and government ministers to "stand up for the sector" and ensure the funding is provided to pay sheep farmers the full €13/ewe.