Wicklow farmers received the highest average CAP payments of all counties in 2024, according to new figures from the Department of Agriculture.

Data from Minister for Agriculture Martin Heydon revealed in a parliamentary question to Aontú’s Peader Toibín shows farmers in the Garden County were paid €21,000 in CAP monies last year on average.

This was closely followed by its near neighbours Carlow and Dublin, farmers in these counties had average CAP payments of €20,000 and €19,500 respectively.

Staying in the southeast, both Kilkenny and Waterford farmers got CAP funds of €19,000 on average.

The west and border

Conversely, farmers in the west and border regions had lower-than-average CAP payments in 2024.

The average CAP payment in the State last year was €16,808, with most farmers in the west and border below this mark.

Leitrim was an exception, with average CAP funds per farmer amounting to €17,000 last year.

Monaghan was the county with the lowest average CAP payments at €11,500 last year.

This is some €3,000 behind its neighbour Cavan, the county with the next-lowest average CAP payment per farmer at €14,500 in 2024.

Farmers in the western counties of Galway, Mayo, Roscommon and Sligo all received an average of €15,000 in CAP subsidies.

Donegal farmers were just under the country’s average at €16,500.

Total payments

However, when looking at the total amount of CAP money a county received, a different story is told.

Cork, the county with the most farmers in Ireland, received over one 10th of Ireland’s 2024 CAP allocation.

Last year, Ireland got €2.16bn in funding for CAP payments, with €239m of this going to farmers in the Rebel County.

The second- and third-highest total allocations were held in the west, as a sum of just under €190m was paid to Galway farmers, while Mayo got €172m.

Kerry received the next-largest total allocation at almost €152m.

Carlow, with the second-highest average payment per farmer, had the third-lowest allocation of total CAP monies last year at just under €38m.

Dublin was in a similar position. It had the third-largest average county payment, but received the lowest total sum of money at just under €20m.

Meanwhile, the Wee County (Louth) had the second-smallest total CAP allocation at €26.3m.

Convergence

In the current CAP, running from 2023 to 2027, 85% convergence will be reached across its five-year lifespan.

Convergence, the flattening of CAP payments, aims to bring all payment entitlement values to a national average. This works by reducing the value of higher-value entitlements to bring farmers with low-value entitlements closer to the national average.

Department of Agriculture data shows that western counties have benefited more from convergence, with Mayo, Kerry and Donegal seeing an increase in payments in recent years.

This is also evident in both the county average figure in 2024 - the variance from which is less than €10,000 - and the total sum per county, with Galway and Mayo receiving the second- and third-highest total sums respectively.