Payment boost for farmers under ANC scheme

Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Martin Heydon TD, today announced that advance payments under the Areas of Natural Constraints (ANC) Scheme have begun issuing to farmers.

“I am delighted to announce that advance payments totalling €183.2 million have issued to 86,985 farmers under the ANC Scheme. Payments commencing today is a significant milestone achieved and is in line with dates agreed in the Farmers’ Charter,” Minister Heydon said.

The Minister stressed the importance of the scheme for farm families and the Department’s commitment to issuing payments promptly. “The ANC Scheme is crucial to farm families, and I know the importance of getting payments out to applicants as quickly as possible. Payments will be visible in farmers’ bank accounts in the coming days. My Department will continue to process, as a matter of urgency, all remaining cases for payment as they meet scheme criteria.”

He also confirmed that his Department is on track to facilitate payment of the 70 per cent advance under the Basic Income Support for Sustainability (BISS) and the Complementary Income Support for Sustainability (CRISS) from 16 October 2025, with Eco-scheme payments to follow from 23 October 2025.

In line with last year’s arrangement the payments currently issuing are an 85 per cent advance on the ANC Scheme and the remaining 15 per cent balancing payments will begin in early December. Not all applications are currently cleared for payment but regular pay runs will continue over the coming weeks. Farmers should submit any outstanding evidence to the Department’s Portlaoise Office as soon as possible to facilitate the early release of payments.

Farmers can contact the Direct Payments Helpdesk on 057 8674422 or submit queries online via MyAgFood.ie. Staff from the ANC Section are also available at the National Ploughing Championships to answer questions.

Across the country payments have been made to 709 farmers in Carlow, 4,096 in Cavan, 5,188 in Clare, 6,473 in Cork, 7,035 in Donegal, 125 in Dublin, 9,627 in Galway, 6,084 in Kerry, 540 in Kildare, 1,534 in Kilkenny, 1,470 in Laois, 2,924 in Leitrim, 3,918 in Limerick, 2,033 in Longford, 624 in Louth, 9,050 in Mayo, 1,310 in Meath, 3,433 in Monaghan, 2,087 in Offaly, 4,831 in Roscommon, 3,330 in Sligo, 4,135 in Tipperary, 1,197 in Waterford, 2,436 in Westmeath, 1,306 in Wexford and 1,490 in Wicklow.

In monetary terms this amounts to €1.4 million in Carlow, €8.2 million in Cavan, €11.5 million in Clare, €14.8 million in Cork, €17.1 million in Donegal, €288,000 in Dublin, €20.3 million in Galway, €14.8 million in Kerry, €882,000 in Kildare, €3 million in Kilkenny, €2.8 million in Laois, €6.5 million in Leitrim, €7.4 million in Limerick, €3.95 million in Longford, €970,000 in Louth, €19.7 million in Mayo, €2.2 million in Meath, €6.1 million in Monaghan, €3.8 million in Offaly, €9.8 million in Roscommon, €7.1 million in Sligo, €8.2 million in Tipperary, €2.5 million in Waterford, €4.4 million in Westmeath, €2.2 million in Wexford and €3.4 million in Wicklow.