The Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (DAFM) issued almost €90 million to farmers under beef and sheep scheme payments in 2023.

This figure is up by nearly €2 million when compared with the previous year when the total payout for the schemes €87,835,829.

However, it is down significantly from the almost €140 million which farmers received through beef and sheep schemes in 2020.

The data was released following a parliamentary question from Clare Fianna Fáil TD Cathal Crowe who sought information on the amounts paid to beef and sheep farmers since the formation of the government in 2020.

In response, Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine Charlie McConalogue noted that the figures relate to the following schemes: the Sheep Improvement Scheme (SIS), Sheep Welfare Scheme, Beef Data and Genomics Programme (BDGP), Beef Sector Efficiency Programme (BEEP-S) and Dairy Beef.

The data also includes payments made to farmers under the Beef Exceptional Aid Measure (BEAM), Beef Finisher Schemes, Suckler Carbon Efficiency Programme (SCEP), National Beef Welfare Scheme 2023 and National Dairy Beef Welfare Scheme 2023.

Some of these schemes are no longer running and have been replaced by new measures under the new Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) which came into force from January 1, 2023.

The figures show that Galway was the county with the highest amount of payments made to farmers through beef and sheep schemes in 2023 at over €9.5 million.

This was followed by Mayo (€7,721,260); Cork (€6,550,322); Clare (€6,164,931) and Donegal (€5,380,412).

Dublin was the county with the lowest amount of payments under the schemes at just under €300,000.

The data shows a mixed picture in terms of overall payments per county, with some increasing since 2022 and others decreasing.

Payments increased in counties including Galway; Clare; Cork; Donegal and Kerry, while the figure dropped in others such as Kildare; Laois and Westmeath.

The following table provides a county-by-county breakdown for the amount of payments made by DAFM to farmers in beef and sheep schemes in 2022 and 2023: