The number of farm fatalities rose to 23 last year, almost double that of 2024.

Minister for Agriculture Martin Heydon described this increase as disappointing but also devastating for the families and communities involved.

"We had a really bad year last year and while there is no good year - one death on our farms is one too many - we went back to very high numbers last year," he said.

ADVERTISEMENT

Speaking in front of the Oireachtas committee on agriculture this week, the minister said that Irish farmers can be known to be risk takers.

"We have a poor attitude to risk in farming. I know it myself from home - you take chances. I grew up where you see people take chances. There's no other profession where a close call or near misses - where somebody could have been seriously injured or killed - is laughed off or shrugged off, yet in agriculture it is," he said.

'Unacceptable practices'

Thankfully some things, the minister added, are now more socially unacceptable.

"Practices such as farmers putting ladders to the side of sheds and not having someone at the bottom holding it - [are] completely unnaceptable.

"The amount of deaths and serious injuries we've had from falls from heights is really bad. The extra funding there is in place to support a number of initiatives that are in place around the promotion of farm safety," he said.

The funding allocation for farm safety increased from €2.5m to €3m in 2026.