Minister Heydon announces €510.9 million in payments to 110,499 farmers under the Basic Income Support for Sustainability
- Published on: 15 October 2025
- Last updated on: 15 October 2025
Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Martin Heydon TD, has announced that advance payments under the 2025 Basic Income Support for Sustainability (BISS) and Complementary Redistributive Income Support for Sustainability (CRISS) are expected to begin from Thursday, 16 October.
The Minister said:
“I am happy to confirm that advance payments under the BISS and CRISS, worth over €510.9 million to 110,499 farmers, are expected to begin from tomorrow. These payments are a critical element of family farm income and, also make a significant contribution to the wider rural economy. Combined with the Areas of Natural Constraints Scheme (ANC) payments that issued in September it means that in excess of €694 million of area-based payments have been paid from my Department in the past month.”
The Minister continued:
"Given the importance of scheme payments to farmers, I want to ensure that these payments continue to issue in the most efficient way possible so that these vital supports are delivered to farmers in a timely manner. Today 93.87% of applicants have been paid which is in line with our commitment under the Farmers Charter to pay 90% of eligible applications.”
Concluding, the Minister added:
“The BISS & CRISS advance payments are expected to commence at a rate of 70%. Payments will be visible in farmers’ bank accounts in the coming days and the Department will continue to process, as a matter of urgency, all remaining cases for payment as they meet scheme criteria. I would urge any farmers with outstanding requests for documentation from the Department to return it to allow payments to issue.”
Payments under the 2025 Areas of Natural Constraints Scheme (ANC), which commenced last month, are also continuing as more cases are cleared for payment and 2025 payments under the Eco-Scheme will commence from next week.
Farmers wishing to contact the department regarding their BISS or ANC payments can ring the Direct Payments Helpdesk at 057 8674422. Farmers can also submit any queries they may have online via www.myagfood.ie.
Notes to Editor
- By close of applications on 15 May, the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine had received 123,705 applications from farmers, at present 117,713 are eligible for payment under BISS and CRISS. There are a number of reasons why an application may be deemed ineligible for payment under the BISS, such as the applicant not holding payment entitlements, a claimed area of zero declared on the application or the applicant does not have eligible land.
- The EU’s common agricultural policy (CAP) is a partnership between society and agriculture that ensures a stable supply of food, safeguards farmers’ income, protects the environment and keeps rural areas vibrant. EU countries implement the CAP at national level with an adopted CAP Strategic Plan for the period 2023-2027.
- The Basic Income Support for Sustainability (BISS) is designed to provide a direct income support to Irish farmers to underpin their continued sustainability and viability.
- The Complementary Redistributive Income Support for Sustainability (CRISS) is a new scheme that is designed to redistribute CAP funds from larger farms to medium and smaller sized farms.
- The Basic Income Support for Sustainability (BISS), Complementary Redistributive Income Support for Sustainability (CRISS) and Eco-Scheme are funded by the EU.
For more information, visit www.gov.ie/cap.
County-by-County Breakdown of Payments
|
County |
No Herds |
Amount Paid |
|
CARLOW |
1,435 |
€8,146,980.23 |
|
CAVAN |
4,346 |
€15,948,572.92 |
|
CLARE |
5,596 |
€23,081,958.08 |
|
CORK |
11,121 |
€60,697,584.05 |
|
DONEGAL |
7,701 |
€29,429,014.38 |
|
DUBLIN |
492 |
€2,992,802.01 |
|
GALWAY |
10,621 |
€40,006,725.23 |
|
KERRY |
6,809 |
€32,999,724.93 |
|
KILDARE |
1,801 |
€10,925,566.73 |
|
KILKENNY |
2,932 |
€18,752,291.68 |
|
LAOIS |
2,537 |
€14,191,013.53 |
|
LEITRIM |
3,153 |
€10,968,824.43 |
|
LIMERICK |
4,467 |
€21,475,467.04 |
|
LONGFORD |
2,175 |
€8,350,565.43 |
|
LOUTH |
1,279 |
€6,596,458.01 |
|
MAYO |
9,997 |
€36,055,101.41 |
|
MEATH |
3,307 |
€19,283,118.87 |
|
MONAGHAN |
3,591 |
€11,979,857.70 |
|
OFFALY |
2,555 |
€13,264,226.65 |
|
ROSCOMMON |
5,158 |
€18,859,914.65 |
|
SLIGO |
3,545 |
€12,841,770.92 |
|
TIPPERARY |
5,980 |
€36,102,791.75 |
|
WATERFORD |
1,997 |
€13,485,399.67 |
|
WESTMEATH |
2,680 |
€13,343,481.17 |
|
WEXFORD |
3,376 |
€19,944,141.26 |
|
WICKLOW |
1,848 |
€11,264,891.61 |
|
110,499 |
€510,988,244.34 |