Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine Martin Heydon has announced the opening for applications of the 2026 National Sheep Welfare Scheme (NSWS).

The 2026 NSWS, which has an approved budget of €22 million, is a continuation and expansion of a similar scheme that operated in 2025.

The core structure consists of five possible actions grouped under mandatory and voluntary categories, and is unchanged from 2025 except that participants will be able to vaccinate against either clostridial diseases or bluetongue virus if they select the ‘vaccination of ewes’ as one of the three mandatory measures.

As before, participants in the 2026 NSWS will be required to complete three actions to receive the full payment of up to €13/ewe.

Farmers joining the 2026 NSWS must indicate at application stage which options they intend to carry out by selecting either two 'Category A' actions, which are mandatory and worth €8/ewe; or selecting two 'Category A' actions and one 'Category B' action, worth up to €13/ewe.

Actions selected at application stage must be completed by October 13.

However, applicants who are unable to complete their chosen actions by that date can choose a later date of November 24 for completion of all selected actions, but they will not be paid until January 2027 at the earliest.

Where a farmer wishes to select the later completion date, they must select this option at application stage.

The maximum number of breeding ewes eligible for payment under the scheme will be based on the average of the three sheep census returns for eligible breeding ewes declared by the applicant for the years 2023 to 2025.

Where the 2025 census return is higher than the average presented, the farmer or their adviser can overwrite the average and claim up to the 2025 number if they wish.

Participants must carry out their chosen actions on whatever number of eligible breeding ewes they select at application stage.

As the NSWS and the Sheep Improvement Scheme (SIS) are separate schemes, there are separate application procedures for both.

Applications for the 2026 NSWS must be submitted before 11:59p.m on May 15, and can be made by a farmer or an approved adviser acting on their behalf, using the online Agfood facility.

Commenting on the scheme, Minister Heydon said: "The scheme launched today is separate from, but complements, the multi-annual Sheep Improvement Scheme, funded under Ireland’s CAP [Common Agricultural Policy] Strategic Plan until 2027.

"To date, approximately 16,700 farmers have received payments totalling €18.2 million for participating in the third year of the SIS, with the balancing payment for the 2025 SIS due to issue in early May 2026," the minister added.

Minister Heydon said: "Today’s scheme consists of straightforward measures that are applicable to all types of sheep enterprises.

"Good flock biosecurity is important for the overall improvement in health, welfare and productivity of animals, and will reduce the incidence of disease on farms.

"For this reason, I announced last week that bluetongue vaccination has been included as an eligible action in the 2026 NSWS," the minister said.