SPECIAL REPORT: Top CAP Recipients - Irish farmers receive €1.6bn under several EU agriculture schemes

More than €1.6bn was paid to over 130,000 Irish farmers last year under a variety of EU agriculture schemes, writes Seán McCárthaigh.

Figures published by the EU show total payments to farmers in 2015 fell almost 5% over the previous year, despite an increase in the actual number of beneficiaries.

The average payment to individual farmers fell from €13,167 in 2014 to €12,460 last year — a reduction of 5.4%.