Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine Martin Heydon has announced that payments have commenced under the Fuel Income Support Scheme.

According to the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine, it is expected that the total final payments under this scheme will be approximately €27 million; however, the scheme was allocated a budget of €85 million.

The scheme was designed to support applicants for the five-month period March to July 2026.

Payment is based on the equivalent of five months usage of the total litres of marked gas oil (MGO) used by an applicant in 2025, multiplied by 20c.

The average payment for a contractor is approximately €4,000 in this batch of payments, with farmers receiving over €600.

According to Minister Heydon, €20.7 million in payments have now commenced issuing to 29,464 farmers and contractors, and money should arrive in their bank accounts in the coming days.

Activities under the scheme must be agriculture or forestry related.

The minimum payment under this scheme is €100; it is anticipated that approximately 3,500 applicants will not reach this payment threshold will therefore not receive a payment.

Applicants who submitted MGO usage of less than 1,200L in 2025 are unable to meet that threshold.

For example, a total usage of 1,000L in 2025 would indicate a usage of 416.67L in the five months of March to July (1,000 divided by 12 and multiplied by five). This is then multiplied by the rate of 20c to give a total payment of €83.33. As this is below €100, no payment will issue.

The maximum payment is €50,000.

Commenting on the commencement of payments, Minister Heydon said: "The Fuel Income Support Scheme was introduced as a targeted income support for farmers and agricultural contractors who had experienced unprecedented increases in fuel costs this spring.

The Minister added: "This is the first batch of farmers and contractors cleared for payment and further payments will issue on an ongoing basis once cases are cleared.

"This scheme and the issuing of payments in a timely manner shows that government can and will support the agricultural industry through difficult times," he said.

He added: "While many farmers and contractors will be paid in the coming days, I would urge anyone who has yet to respond to requests from my officials for information to please do so to allow their claim to be processed and finalised in a timely manner.”

The table below shows the amount of payments (both farmers and contractors) and the total amount per county: