The maximum allowable funding must be allocated to the fertiliser scheme under EU regulations, according to Irish Creamery and Milk Suppliers Association (ICMSA) president Denis Drennan.
Following a meeting with Department officials on Monday, he said that if the scheme is to rely on just EU funding, farmers will likely receive just over €11 per tonne support.
“To put it mildly, that kind of funding is a complete insult to farmers who have faced a brutal and horrendous 2026 in terms of weather, output price and inflated costs,” he said.
He remarked that “the whole structure of farming in Ireland is financially creaking” and “all we seem to be hearing, let alone receiving, from the Government is expressions of understanding and tokenistic support”.
Income volatility
The fundamental problem is wildly erratic income volatility, which is not being addressed nor solved, Drennan stated.
He highlighted that cashflow is a major issue as winter approaches and called on the Government to “step up” and begin actively supporting farmers.
Noting that the Minister for Agriculture has the option to increase the level of funding by 200%, the ICMSA president said that farmers will be watching very closely to see whether the Minister is earnest about helping them.
“The problems of farmers producing food have been ignored for far too long by this Government and the first step to changing that has to be the maximum level of funding being allocated to this scheme and paid out to farmers as soon and as simply as possible,” he concluded.
SHARING OPTIONS