The Government met with the Association of Farm and Forestry Contractors in Ireland (FCI) this week, to agree a formal definition of what constitutes an agricultural contractor.

The meetings come in the wake of the fuel support package and which is primarily targeted at agricultural contractors, farmers and fishermen.

“We have never had a direct support for contractors before. So that means it is challenging, because we don’t have an agreed definition of what a contractor is,” the Minister for Agriculture Martin Heydon told the Irish Farmers Journal.

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They’re both technically contractors. So how do you define it?

There were varying types of contractors, he pointed out, “from the farmer’s son or daughter driving the parents’ tractor” who does a bit of contract work in the evening, “to the person with 10-15 machines employing 10 people”.

“They’re both technically contractors. So how do you define it? How do you put parameters on that? That’s what we have to do now,” Minister Heydon explained.

Reacting to Minister Heydon’s comments, FCI welcomed that the role of the agricultural and forestry contractor has been recognised by the Department.

“We now look forward to the creation of a national registry of agricultural and forestry contractors as we begin the work of the first ever Farm Contractor Working Group established by the Department,” said Ann Gleeson Hanrahan, managing director at FCI.

First meeting

The group is due to hold its first meeting in the coming days.

Meanwhile, FCI said it is awaiting the final details of the Government’s Temporary Energy Support Scheme proposals for agricultural and forestry contractors.

“We understand that the deal will include up to a 20c/l payment to agricultural and forestry contractors as a lump sum based on their fuel usage levels between 1 March 2025 and 31 July 2025,” said Gleeson Hanrahan.

“Contractors will have to produce fuel invoices from that period to verify their use levels and we are encouraging all of our FCI members to start preparing their fuel invoice paperwork now,” she added.