Specific Details
Disease Support Fund for Poultry Farmers
Intended results
To highlight the urgent need for a dedicated disease support fund to protect poultry producers in the event of a disease outbreak. Irish poultry farms maintain some of the highest biosecurity standards in Europe and achieve among the lowest salmonella rates in the EU without vaccination. Yet, despite these best-in-class practices, the financial risk to individual farmers remains extreme — often threatening the closure of family farms when disease strikes.
To call for immediate funds to be ringfenced and made available to establish a practical, workable poultry disease fund.
To highlight that, at present, limited ex gratia supports under Section 31(1) of the Animal Health and Welfare Act 2013 are available to broiler breeders and table egg producers. For 2025, the allocation is just €180,000, which is not adequate to cover even one farmer as has been proven in recent times.
That, while acknowledging the Department's efforts to increase the funding this year, the level of support remains wholly inadequate to meet the needs of producers and cannot be considered a viable long-term solution for the sector. Without a structured fund, a disease outbreak could cause financial devastation and threaten the viability of farm families and the sector as a whole.
That, it is vital that the Government supports the poultry industry on this ask. The IFA, on behalf of farmers, will commit to work constructively with your Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine and Animal Health Ireland (AHI) to design a co-financing mechanism. This could include a proportionate levy contribution from farmers and industry, combined with crucial Government support, to ensure that the fund is robust and sustainable.
To stress that the fund should also be available to the full commercial poultry sector, irrespective of production system, their contribution should be proportionate to their level of risk. For example, broiler growers should contribute proportionately less given the shorter lifespan and lower value of their birds compared with breeder and table egg flocks.
To support this, we recommend that ADAS valuation tables be used as the basis for negotiating fair and transparent contribution levels across the sector.
IFA propose
1. Immediately make available upfront funding to establish a ringfenced poultry disease fund.
2. Work with the IFA, AHI and the wider poultry industry urgently to design and implement a co-financed structure, incorporating proportionate contributions from each production system and stakeholders, which would go towards the maintenance of the fund.
3. Use ADAS valuation tables to underpin fair, evidence-based negotiations on contribution and compensation levels.
4. Restructure or reapportion the existing compensation scheme for salmonella in table egg and broiler breeder flocks to provide adequate, timely support when outbreaks occur.
To emphasise that, with rising production costs and mounting pressure on poultry farmers, now is the critical time to act. This fund would provide much-needed security for farmers, strengthen resilience in the sector, and align with the Government's commitments under Food Vision 2030.
Name of person primarily responsible for lobbying on this activity
Francie Gorman IFA President, Nigel Sweetnam IFA Poultry Chair, Sarah Hanley IFA Policy Executive
Martin Heydon
Minister (Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine)
Brian Purcell
Special Adviser (Department of Agriculture and the Marine)
Barry Cassidy
Special Adviser (Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine)