IFA Calls on Government to Support Rooftop Solar for Farmers in Budget 2027

IFA President Francie Gorman has said the Government must back its words on energy and a just transition with real supports for farmers in Budget 2027, following Tánaiste Simon Harris’s speech to the Economic and Social Research Institute (ESRI) yesterday.

In his speech, the Tánaiste said, “As a government, we need to do more to make it easier for citizens, for farmers, for businesses to make the changes.”

He also said that in the IFA stand at the National Ploughing Championships last week he heard how thousands of farmers want to put solar panels on their farm buildings.

“The Tánaiste heard it himself in the IFA stand at the Ploughing: farmers are ready to put more solar panels on their farm buildings. What’s stopping them is that the Government is now rejecting 90% of rooftop solar grant applications under the Targeted Agricultural Modernisation Scheme (TAMS),” Francie Gorman said.

The IFA President said the Government had effectively pulled the plug on a very successful rooftop solar scheme at a time when reducing our dependence on fossil fuels is a key Government priority.

“Some farmers are now availing of the SEAI grant for rooftop solar, but the grant level needs to be significantly improved, and it needs to include battery storage,” he said.

“The Tánaiste said the Government wants to accelerate the energy transition. Farmers want to play their part. Budget 2027 is the opportunity to give them the support to do it,” Francie Gorman said.