An open call for farmer safety, health and wellbeing projects has been launched by Minister for Agriculture Martin Heydon and Minister of State for Forestry, Farm Safety and Horticulture, Michael Healy-Rae.
The Department has called for proposals to address a range of themes such as tractor driving training for children over 14 as well as falls from a height.
Welcoming the open call, Minister Healy-Rae said: “Several new themes have been added to the open call this year including proposals to specifically support older farmers who are a more vulnerable group. Farmers over 60 years of age accounted for three quarters of all farm fatalities in 2025”.
Minister Heydon spoke about the increased funding allocation secured for farm safety in 2026, stating: “having secured €3m in dedicated funding for this important area in budget 2026, my Department will continue to prioritise the safety, health, and wellbeing of everyone involved in farming.”
The Department’s dedicated farm safety budget will provide the funding for the open call projects, with a call for proposals to be submitted to address a range of themes and sub-themes:
Farm safety: tractor driving awareness training for children 14 years of age and older, chainsaw training, working at heights training.Farmers physical health: farmers physical health checks, hearing and sight checks.Farmers mental health and wellbeing: mental health checks.Supporting older farmers.All projects funded under the open call must be completed by 30 October 2026.
Successful projects delivered in 2026 may be funded again in subsequent year(s), for a period or periods of up to twelve months, up to the end of 2029, subject to funding being available and approval by the Department.
Applications under the open call can be emailed to farmsafetycall@agriculture.gov.ie or sent by registered post to: Crop Policy, Evaluation and Certification Division, Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Backweston Administration Building, Celbridge, Co Kildare.
An information webinar on preparing open call applications will be held on Wednesday 11 March 2026 at 10am. Applicants who are considering submitting a proposal are advised to attend this important webinar. To Register for the webinar, please click here.
The deadline for submission of applications is 5pm on Wednesday 1 April 2026.
The specification document and application form are available here.
An open call for farmer safety, health and wellbeing projects has been launched by Minister for Agriculture Martin Heydon and Minister of State for Forestry, Farm Safety and Horticulture, Michael Healy-Rae.
The Department has called for proposals to address a range of themes such as tractor driving training for children over 14 as well as falls from a height.
Welcoming the open call, Minister Healy-Rae said: “Several new themes have been added to the open call this year including proposals to specifically support older farmers who are a more vulnerable group. Farmers over 60 years of age accounted for three quarters of all farm fatalities in 2025”.
Minister Heydon spoke about the increased funding allocation secured for farm safety in 2026, stating: “having secured €3m in dedicated funding for this important area in budget 2026, my Department will continue to prioritise the safety, health, and wellbeing of everyone involved in farming.”
The Department’s dedicated farm safety budget will provide the funding for the open call projects, with a call for proposals to be submitted to address a range of themes and sub-themes:
Farm safety: tractor driving awareness training for children 14 years of age and older, chainsaw training, working at heights training.Farmers physical health: farmers physical health checks, hearing and sight checks.Farmers mental health and wellbeing: mental health checks.Supporting older farmers.All projects funded under the open call must be completed by 30 October 2026.
Successful projects delivered in 2026 may be funded again in subsequent year(s), for a period or periods of up to twelve months, up to the end of 2029, subject to funding being available and approval by the Department.
Applications under the open call can be emailed to farmsafetycall@agriculture.gov.ie or sent by registered post to: Crop Policy, Evaluation and Certification Division, Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Backweston Administration Building, Celbridge, Co Kildare.
An information webinar on preparing open call applications will be held on Wednesday 11 March 2026 at 10am. Applicants who are considering submitting a proposal are advised to attend this important webinar. To Register for the webinar, please click here.
The deadline for submission of applications is 5pm on Wednesday 1 April 2026.
The specification document and application form are available here.
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