Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 7 July 2026
618. Deputy Richard Boyd Barrett asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the estimated full-year cost of paying small farmers with an annual farm income of €20,000 or less a basic income payment of €10,000; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [51354/26]
View answerThe Central Statistics Office Farm Structure Survey 2023 indicated there were 133,174 farms in Ireland, with an average farm size of 34.7 hectares. This comprises a mix of full and part-time farmers.
The 2024 Teagasc National Farm Survey (NFS) represents around 88,000 of those farms (farms with a standard output of more than €8,000 per annum are included in the NFS). The data indicates that 53% (46,603) of those farms earned a Family Farm Income of less than €20,000. Additionally there are smaller farms that are not covered by the NFS (i.e. because their output is less than €8,000 per annum). These farms are surveyed periodically and according to the Teagasc Small Farms Report 2022, there are 48,356 such family farms.
Taking into account NFS 2024 and NFS Small Farms Report 2022 findings, 94,959 farms have Family Farm Income of less than €20,000. Paying a basic income payment of €10,000 to each totals approximately €950 million, with the caveat that this figure is based on survey data from different surveys in different years, subject to different assumptions.
It is important to note that Family Farm Income is not equivalent to household income, which may include off-farm income, either through off-farm employment, a pension or other social assistance. The NFS Small Farms Report 2022 indicates that 83% of small farm households had an off-farm income source, while National Farm Survey 2024 data indicates that 86% of farms had an off-farm income.
Ireland’s €9.8 billion Common Agriculture Policy (CAP) Strategic Plan 2023-2027 includes the Basic Income Support for Sustainability (BISS) and the Complementary Redistributive Income Support for Sustainability (CRISS), which is designed to redistribute CAP funds from larger farms to medium and smaller sized farms. In 2024, Irish farmers received more than €2.11 billion in payments. NFS 2024 results indicate average direct payments (i.e. payments from my Department) of €21,388 to those farms covered by the NFS.
