Farm Safety
Dail Éireann — 2025-10-14
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Michael Healy-Rae (IND), Kerry

I thank Deputy McCarthy.
Farm safety, health and well-being is a priority for this Government. The Department is implementing a range of initiatives this year on farm safety, utilising dedicated funding of €2.5 million secured in budget 2025. I was pleased to secure an increase in this dedicated funding for farm safety, health and well-being to €3 million in budget 2026. In relation to 2025 funding, I have approved funding for 40 projects following an open call for farm safety, health and well-being projects earlier this year. More recently, we announced contracts for the delivery of children’s and young person’s farm safety awareness initiatives.
A number of key schemes under the CAP strategic plan also ensure a focus on farm safety. The TAMS 3 farm safety capital investment scheme continues to provide grant aid for a wide range of farm safety related investments. Health and safety guidelines are included in all building specifications for the construction of agricultural buildings and structures. All TAMS applicants are required to complete a half-day of farm safety training.
Farmer health and safety training is also included in other Department schemes, such as the suckler carbon efficiency programme, the ACRES training scheme and the knowledge transfer programme. The accelerated capital allowances scheme was expanded in budget 2025 to cover a broader range of farm safety investments in addition to the existing range of eligible farm safety equipment and adaptive equipment for farmers with disabilities. The additional farm safety investments are eligible for both TAMS and the accelerated capital allowances.
This year, my Department partnered with the Health and Safety Authority to deliver targeted media campaigns focusing on farm safety risks due to livestock and farmer fatigue. In addition, the HSA's guidance on managing fatigue with farm work was included in the 2025 basic income support for sustainability, BISS, packs distributed to over 125,000 farmers.
The increased funding in 2026 will enable me to continue to deliver initiatives to support the safety, health and well-being of farmers, and everyone working and living on farms.

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Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/dail/2025-10-14/debate/main
Retrieved: 2026-09-21T01:01:04+00:00
Sitting date: 2025-10-14