The Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine has confirmed to farm organisations that payments under the Dairy Beef Welfare Scheme to 7,700 farmers will issue by the end of this month.

According to the Irish Creamery Milk Suppliers' Association (ICMSA), department officials made the confirmation at a meeting of Farmers' Charter stakeholders today (Friday, March 7).

Speaking after the meeting, ICMSA livestock committee chairperson Michael O Connell said that there had been some disquiet and concern following delays and issues with the payments due last Autumn and into this year.

The ICMSA chairperson said that the annual budget of €6.25 million had "not been utilised" with payments due to 7,700 farmers for approximately 234,000 calves.

"This equates to €4.68 million out of that allocated €6.25 million and that means that roughly €1.5 million is going unused; that’s very much to be regretted and we’d urge farmers who applied for the scheme in 2024 but didn’t meet the eligibility criteria to remain part of the scheme because the eligibility criteria might suit their 2025 calves better," O'Connell added.

"There might also be farmers who didn’t apply at all in 2024 but who could meet the eligibility conditions for the three remaining years, and we’d urge them to consider it.  We do think it’s important that all the budget for this potentially very significant scheme is taken up," he said.

O'Connell also said that the payment run for the Dairy Beef Welfare Scheme is to be made in March annually so that all calves to a dairy dam - except for calves bred from a dairy sire - born between January 1, 2024 and December 31, 2024 - have the opportunity of being eligible for the €20/head payment.

2024 was the first year of the newly designed dairy beef scheme which runs for four years from 2024 through to 2027.

As the scheme is designed to reward farmers for use of better genetics, farmers who did not apply in 2024 have the opportunity of joining the scheme in 2025.

However, O'Connell claimed that the "hoops" farmers have to go through for the payment are "frankly over the top".

He called for both the department and the European Commission to review the scheme "in the context of their much-trumpeted efforts at simplification".

On the provision of an additional €20/head payment for all calves born to a dairy dam, the ICMSA said that, although the details of the payment are unconfirmed at the moment, it is believed that each eligible calf will need to be weighed once they are over 12 weeks of age and before November 1.

Calf rearers will be eligible to receive this payment up to a maximum of 50 calves but the breeder is also eligible once he or she keeps the calf post-12 weeks.

It is believed that calves born before the July 1, 2024 and June 30, 2025 will be eligible for the scheme and the additional payment will be made in December of this year.

O'Connell said: "We note the additional budget for the Dairy Beef Welfare Scheme in 2025 and while it’s a step in the right direction, it’s bluntly way short of where we need to be on a viable dairy calf to beef system."

"That’s precisely why the provision of these additional, but still inadequate, funds are important as we try to build a meaningful calf-to-beef system," he added.

He said that the ICMSA will be calling on the government to allocate further funding for the scheme in Budget 2026.