Martin Heydon seems set to be announced as the new Minister for Agriculture next week, with Independent TDs Noel Grealish and Michael Healy-Rae set to work alongside him.

Heydon, who has been Minister of State since 2020 and with the agriculture portfolio swapping over from Fianna Fáil to Fine Gael, is widely seen as the most likely to be given the job by Micheál Martin and Simon Harris.

His biggest obstacle was making the ministerial cut, but with Fine Gael now set to have seven ministerial positions to Fianna Fáil’s eight, his prospects have improved.

Simon Harris, Helen McEntee, Paschal Donohoe, Patrick O’Donovan and Peter Burke are nailed on, with Hildegarde Naughton and Jennifer Carroll-McNeill vying with Heydon for the last two Fine Gael ministries.

Outgoing agriculture minister Charlie McConalogue faces the exact same anxious wait as Heydon. Micheál Martin, who will become Taoiseach next week, will re-appoint Jack Chambers, Darragh O’Brien, and Norma Foley, with Mary Butler, James Lawless and Dara Calleary widely tipped for promotion.

That leaves McConalogue vying with Timmy Dooley, James Browne, and Thomas Byrne.

Rural TDs

Meanwhile, four independent rural TDs will gain Minister of State positions. Noel Grealish will be a super-junior Minister of State for Agriculture, sitting at cabinet as Pippa Hackett did in the last government.

Seán Canney will also sit at cabinet, and is tipped for a super-junior position at the Department of Transport, with Marian Harkin the third Regional Independent Group TD to gain a junior minister role.

Michael Healy-Rae will also be a Minister of State, and will serve alongside Grealish and most likely Heydon, in what will be a defining period for farming.

There may be a Fianna Fáil Minister of State delegated to agriculture as well.

Programme priorities

The Programme for Government is long on priorities, but with no specific funding commitments included. Increased supports for suckler cows, dairy calf-to beef, sheep and tillage farmers are pledged, with uptake encouraged “by more straightforward measures”.

A milling wheat-processing and wool-washing will be supported. Pig and poultry market access will be supported. The horticulture sector will receive increased capital investment, and strawberries will be recognised as a heritage crop. Plant protection products will remain accessible to farmers. Rewetting will be voluntary, that will be enshrined in the constitution.

A “farm succession scheme that promotes generational renewal” will be prioritised in the next CAP, with the current range of scheme and tax incentives for young farmers enhanced.