IFA President Francie Gorman said today’s Budget contains a number of measures consistent with our asks to support farmers to deal with escalating costs but the cost of doing business continues to escalate at farm level and more will need to be done to address this.
It’s important that there will be a full top-up of 200% on the fertiliser support scheme, introduced by the EU Commission. The overall fund of €46m is likely to mean €34/tonne for farmers. We will be engaging with the Department on the detail of this scheme which must be paid out as a matter of urgency.
“The budget for the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine has remained broadly similar to 2026 at €2.3bn which is disappointing in the context of a 6% increase in overall Government spending,” he said.
“On the expenditure side, there is an increase in funding for some schemes, but our concern is that there may not be enough to avoid linear cuts to individual farmer payments particularly in our most vulnerable sectors. We will be taking this up with the Minister for Agriculture as any cuts must be avoided,” he said.
The fuel rebate scheme introduced earlier this year has been extended to year end and carbon tax increases will remain suspended.
“Our view is that the carbon tax should be removed, but today’s announcement is a recognition that it is an issue for rural Ireland in particular. We hope today’s announcement will be the Government’s first turn in a three-point turn on Carbon Tax.”
“We had also looked for those farmers impacted by a TB breakdown to be properly compensated for the losses incurred. The increase in the valuation ceilings by €500 per animal will address that situation to some extent,” he said.
IFA Farm Business Chair Bill O’Keeffe said overall the Budget will see modest improvements in what people have in their pockets, with income tax cuts helping farm households that are struggling to cope with rising bills.
The increase in the Flat Rate Addition for non-VAT registered farmers from 4.5% to 4.8% will bring it in line with the livestock rate and this will be worth €30m to farmers in 2027.
There is a modest increase in the allocation for the Straw Incorporation Measure (SIM), but tillage farmers will be disappointed that funding for the tillage support scheme has remained static despite the significant cost increases in that sector.
Bill O’Keeffe said IFA had looked to have VAT on all non-oral vaccines reduced from 23% to 0%, but the Govt decided to bring it down to 9% for respiratory vaccines only.
“On the inheritance threshold, the increase of €20,000 to €420,000 is well short of what was needed to cover valuation inflation in recent years.”
In conclusion, IFA President Francie Gorman said: “I want to acknowledge all the lobbying done by our officers around the country to make sure that a number of the measures we looked for have been included in the Budget. Our work to achieve the rest of our objectives will continue.”
