Minister Heydon announces opening of the €22 million National Sheep Welfare Scheme
- Foilsithe:
- An t-eolas is déanaí:
The Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Martin Heydon T.D., today announced the opening for applications of the 2026 National Sheep Welfare Scheme (NSWS).
The 2026 NSWS, which has an approved budget of €22 million, is a continuation and expansion of a similar scheme that operated in 2025. The core structure consists of five possible actions grouped under mandatory and voluntary categories, and is unchanged except that participants will be able to vaccinate against either clostridial diseases or bluetongue virus if they select the ‘vaccination of ewes’ as one of the three mandatory measures. As before, participants in the 2026 NSWS will be required to complete three actions to receive the full payment of up to €13 per ewe.
Minster Heydon highlighted the ongoing supports provided by his Department to maintain producer confidence in the future viability of sheep farming.
“The scheme launched today is separate from, but complements, the multi-annual Sheep Improvement Scheme (SIS) funded under Ireland’s CAP Strategic Plan until 2027. To date, approximately 16,700 farmers have received payments totalling €18.2 million for participating in the third year of the SIS, with the balancing payment for the 2025 SIS due to issue in early May 2026. Under the 2025 NSWS, just over €21.2 million has been paid to almost 16,800 participants to date.”
Minister Heydon said
The Minister further commented:
“Today’s scheme consists of straightforward measures that are applicable to all types of sheep enterprises. They are practical to implement on all sheep enterprises including those not currently participating in the existing SIS. Good flock biosecurity is important for the overall improvement in health, welfare and productivity of animals, and will reduce the incidence of disease on farms. For this reason, I announced last week that bluetongue vaccination has been included as an eligible action in the 2026 NSWS.”
As the NSWS and the SIS are separate schemes, there are separate application procedures for both. Applications for the 2026 NSWS must be submitted before 23.59 on 15 May 2026 and can be made by a farmer, or an approved FAS advisor acting on their behalf, using the online facility at www.agfood.ie.
The full terms and conditions of the National Sheep Welfare Scheme (NSWS) and other relevant scheme information are available at the following link:
2026 National Sheep Welfare Scheme
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Note to editors
Farmers joining the 2026 NSWS must indicate at application stage which options they intend to carry out by selecting either two Category A actions which are mandatory worth €8 per ewe, or selecting two Category A actions and one Category B action worth up to €13 per ewe.
Actions selected at application stage must be completed by 13 October 2026. However, applicants who are unable to complete their chosen actions by that date can choose a later date of 24 November 2026 for completion of all selected actions, but they will not be paid until January 2027 at the earliest. Where a farmer wishes to select the later completion date, they must select this option at application stage.
The maximum number of breeding ewes eligible for payment under the scheme will be based on the average of the three sheep census returns for eligible breeding ewes declared by the applicant for the years 2023 to 2025. Where the 2025 census return is higher than the average presented, the farmer or FAS advisor can overwrite the average and claim up to the 2025 number if they so wish. Participants must carry out their chosen actions on whatever number of eligible breeding ewes they select at application stage.
Completed actions must be recorded on the record sheets which will be provided by the department to participants.