Funding of €22m has been announced in Budget 2027 for the continuation of the National Sheep Welfare Scheme.

The figure is similar to recent years, allowing for the continuation of the scheme offering a payment of up to €13/ewe.

The scheme is part of an umbrella heading of funding termed ‘livestock schemes’, but only the National Sheep Welfare Scheme was singled out for a special mention in Tuesday’s budget speech.

The scheme is popular among farmers and in 2025 there was €21.47m paid out to 17,071 farmers.

The scheme was oversubscribed for the level of funding available, with the payment per ewe cut from €13 to €11.50/ewe.

Funding of €22m was provided in Budget 2026 for the annual initiative that rewards farmers for implementing health initiatives that improve the welfare of sheep.

Action listing

Actions included in this year’s scheme can be broken down into two categories - a mandatory category A option, where participants have to complete two actions from a list of shearing, body condition scoring and vaccination of ewes to receive payment of €8/ewe; and an optional category B grouping, where farmers can draw down an additional payment of up to €5 per ewe in return from footbathing or plunge dipping to control external parasites in sheep.

It is too early to deliberate on what might be in a scheme in 2027, but it is feasible to think that the scheme may follow a similar format to recent years.