The Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Martin Heydon has confirmed that those who are eligible for the "forgotten farmers" scheme will receive payments next month.

The Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine said it received over 1,200 applications under the scheme for the 'forgotten farmers'.

The measure, officially called the Scheme to Support Long Established Young Farmers, launched on July 22 and closed to applications on August 13 this year.

An allocation of €5 million was set out in Budget 2025 to fund the scheme.

Forgotten farmers

However the Fine Gael TD, Naoise Ó Muirí, had asked the minister how much each farmer who qualifies for the scheme will receive.

Deputy Ó Muirí also queried Minister Heydon on whether each farmer will receive the maximum payment of €5,000.

According to the minister the amount of "support per successful applicant" will be confirmed when processing of applications has been completed.

Minister Heydon said: "The allocation of €5 million in Budget 2025 to provide support for this cohort of farmers is expected to be sufficient to provide the maximum possible payment to eligible applicants, in accordance with the terms and conditions of the scheme.

Previously the Limerick TD, Niall Collins, had also asked Minister Heydon if consideration had been given to broadening the age and time restrictions for applicants who are excluded from the scheme.

Minister Heydon said there are no plans to extend the eligibility criteria.

"Since the time my department 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 and were not eligible for young farmer supports under the CAP from 2015.

"This definition of forgotten farmer has remained consistent since 2015," he said.