Budget 2025 has seen the announcement of €235 million to be put towards investment in rural Ireland.
Announcing the allocation to each government department for next year, Minister for Public Expenditure Paschal Donohoe said that the Department of Rural and Community Development would be allocated a total of €472 million.
This funding, Donohoe said, would help deliver commitments across both rural and urban areas, as set out in the ‘Our Rural Future’ strategy and the National Development Plan, and will promote social inclusion in both urban and rural areas.
Of that total funding for the department, €235 million will go to rural areas and policies specifically.
Minister Donohoe said: “The Department of Rural and Community Development will have a total capital funding of €235 million in 2025 to support the revitalisation of rural Ireland.”
The minister said that the funding would support measures such as the Rural Regeneration and Development Fund; the LEADER Programme; the Town and Village Renewal Scheme; the Outdoor Recreation Infrastructure Scheme; and the CLÁR Programme, which provides funding for small-scale infrastructure projects in rural areas.
Minister Donohoe said: “This government believes that the development of sustainable communities is necessary to drive enterprise growth, increase remote working capability, and support our people to grow and flourish.”
Budget 2025
Meanwhile, the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (DAFM) has been allocated over €2 billion as part of Budget 2025.
This represents an increase on last year’s budget (Budget 2024) allocation to the department which totaled €1.9 billion. However, this is down on its Budget 2023 allocation of €2.141 billion.
Over €716 million is being provided in 2025 for those participating in agri-environmental schemes such as the Agri Climate Rural Environment Scheme (ACRES), the government announced.
Other funding for the agriculture sector announced as part of Budget 2025 includes:
- €30 million for a new tillage scheme supporting farmers to plant field crops;
- €10 million for animal health measures improving biosecurity;
- €22 million for the continuation of the National Sheep Welfare Scheme into 2025;
- €8 million to enhance payment rates on the National Beef Welfare Scheme.
Some €143 million of Carbon Tax funding will be provided to the Department of Agriculture in 2025. Minister Donohoe said this funding will “continue to support farmers as they work to improve biodiversity, climate, air, and water quality outcomes”.