Sheep farmers are "furious" with Minister for Agriculture Martin Heydon’s failure to honour the commitment to pay €13/ewe under the Sheep Welfare Scheme (SWS), Irish Farmers' Association (IFA) sheep chair Adrian Gallagher said.

The IFA met the Minister last week to voice its opposition to the cut.

“If there is a will from the Minister and his Government colleagues to resolve this issue, then there is a way. It’s up to the Minister to find the €2.4m for the sheep scheme,” he said.

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“Sheep farmers entered into a contract with the Minister in good faith when applying to the scheme and carrying out the actions. These are all costed actions based on income foregone, cost incurred.

"This was on the clear understanding they would receive €13/ewe for investing in these measures on their farms,” he said.

'Serious decline'

“The sheep sector is in serious decline in recent years. There will be over 800,000 fewer lambs processed this year compared to 2023, with farmers no longer prepared to keep working for nothing," he said.

Generational renewal in the sector is a huge challenge and this will be further compounded if the Minister for Agriculture does not come forward with the full payment of €13/ewe for farmers.

Gallagher argued that the issue is about much more than just the financial cut to the payments.

"It is about how the Minister and his Government colleagues view the sector and how they are prepared to support it in the long term.

“This penny-pinching by the Minister, at a crucial time for sheep farming and the broader sheep sector, is a clear sign of the level of the interest from the Government and the Minister in supporting this vital national resource and the second-largest farming sector in the country," he said.

Gallagher added that sheep farming is concentrated on the west coast of Ireland in some of the most difficult land to farm.

TDs and Government ministers from these regions in particular must stand up for the sector and ensure the funding is provided to pay sheep farmers the full €13/ewe they have incurred from the cost of the scheme, he added.