The Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (DAFM) has issued a further update on applications for this year's Basic Income Support for Sustainability (BISS).

A spokesperson for the department told Agriland that a total of 107,210 applications for BISS and other area-based schemes had been submitted as of Monday (May 11).

94,899 applications have been submitted by agents and 12,311 have been submitted by farmers.

101,827 applications have been submitted for the Areas of Natural Constraints Scheme (ANC) and 104,628 for the Eco-scheme.

BISS

The department said applications are running ahead of the same date in 2025.

By comparison, 106,801 applications were submitted to the department at this time last year.

The spokesperson noted that over 3,600 scheme applications were submitted yesterday alone.

DAFM also confirmed that some users were having problems making applications for a time yesterday.

"In a limited number of cases users experienced issues submitting applications for a short period of time on May 11 but these have now been resolved," the spokesperson said.

Deadline

The closing date for BISS scheme applications is now just days away, on midnight of Friday, May 15, 2026.

This is also the deadline applications to be submitted for a range of other schemes including the Complementary Income Support for Young Farmers, Eco-Scheme, ANC and transfers of entitlements.

Applications must be submitted online through the department's AgFood portal.

Farmers who want help in submitting applications can contact the department's Direct Payments Helpdesk on 057-8674422.

The lines will be open for extended hours in the run up to the application deadline as follows:

Between 9:15a.m and 9:00p.m on Monday, May 11 to Thursday, May 14;
Between 9:15a.m and 12 midnight on Friday, May 15.

Staff will also be available to assist at the public counter in the department office in Portlaoise during these extended opening hours.

In-person consultations are available until half an hour before closing time on each of the days.

DAFM noted the helpdesk and public counter will be closed for lunch on all dates from 12:45-2:00p.m.

If farmers wish to contact the department in relation to online applications they can do so at:

049 4368288 - in relation to queries on registering for AgFood, including queries on lost passwords and how to register.
057 8674422 in relation to queries on completing the BISS application or to request a paper copy of the terms and conditions.