The 2024 National Sheep Welfare Scheme (NSWS) payments are going out to 15,465 farmers.
The Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Charlie McConalogue, today (Wednesday, November 6) confirmed that the advance payments will be worth €14.36 million to farmers.
The NSWS is aimed at “assisting farmers to produce better quality animals and implement practical animal welfare measures on their farms”.
The NSWS measures are additional to those in the Sheep Improvement Scheme (SIS) and had to be applied for separately.
The NSWS only has a one year duration and will run from January 1, 2024 to December 31, 2024.
Sheep payments
Minister McConalogue said today that the advance payments which have started going out are “crucial to the sheep sector and farm families up and down this country”.
“I fully realise the importance of getting payments out to applicants as quickly as possible.
“This payment will mean 91% of all eligible applicants in the scheme will be paid in the coming days,” the minister added.
He also highlighted this represents an “increase in payments for sheep farmers”.
Minister McConalogue said:” “When combined with the €12 per ewe available under the CSP Sheep Improvement Scheme (SIS), the NSWS payment means that sheep farmers this year will receive €20 per ewe.
“In Budget 2025, I have further increased this payment by a further €5 per ewe.
“This is a 150% increase in funding – from €10 to €25 – since I became minister and is by far the largest payment ever made to sheep farmers.”
He has pledged that the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (DAFM) “will continue to process, as a matter of urgency, all remaining cases for payment as they meet scheme criteria”.
He has also urged all farmers in the scheme who have received correspondence from DAFM “to respond as quickly as possible to ensure their payment can be processed”.