The list of beneficiaries of Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) payments in the Republic of Ireland was recently published by the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine.

The department is obliged, by EU regulations, to publish the list of all beneficiaries of CAP funding – once they receive more than €1,250 – by the end of May each year.

A total of 133,182 beneficiaries received CAP payments in the Republic of Ireland in 2016; in excess of €1.6 billion was dished out to these beneficiaries in CAP payments last year.

The release of these figures by the department coincided with the release of the preliminary results from Teagasc’s National Farm Survey.

According to the results, farm income continues to be highly reliant on direct payments. In 2016, the average total payment was €17,932 and this accounted for 75% of farm income on average, Teagasc added.

Meanwhile, the 4% increase in direct payments last year was attributed to an increase in monies paid under the Basic Payment Scheme (BPS) and the roll-out of the GLAS scheme.

Top beneficiaries

The highest single payment was issued to the owners of O’Shea Farms in Piltown, Co. Kilkenny; they received a payment of €244,693.

A farmer in Fermoy, Co. Cork, Terence Coughlan, received a payment of €227,469 last year; the second highest individual payment.

Rounding out the top three highest CAP beneficiaries for 2016 was a farm owned by Greenhills Windfarm Ltd. in Cobh, Co. Cork; a payment of €225,681 was issued to the owners of the company.

Meanwhile, John and Peter Queally from Co. Waterford were in receipt of a payment of €225,165. Back in the 1980s, the Queally brothers set up Dawn Meats with their partner Dan Browne.

Patrick Reynolds, a farmer in Trim, Co. Meath, received a payment of €224,496 last year.

Other beneficiaries to receive a payment of over €200,000 include Cyril Goode from Arklow in Co. Wicklow (€220,110), Louis McAuley from Navan in Co. Meath (€219,863) and Thomas Codd in Co. Wexford (€209,088).

Some of the most high profile beneficiaries of CAP funding in 2017 included Larry Goodman and his family members; they pocketed just over €430,000 for two farms located in Co. Louth.

Another business tycoon, Walter Furlong, received two payments in excess of €200,000 for two farms in the Enniscorthy area of Co. Wexford.

He and his business partner, Kevin Cooney, own the Cooney & Furlong Grain Company. Furlong received payments of €220,736 and €173,869 respectively in 2016.