Minister for Agriculture has largest farmlands among TDs and Senators

Minister for Agriculture Martin Heydon has emerged as the biggest farming landowner among TDs and Senators, an investigation by The Irish Times has found.Heydon, a Fine Gael TD for Kildare South since 2011, owns 245 acres of land in Kildare and Laois, estimated to be worth between €2.2 million and €4.5 million, based on average non-residential land values for 2025 published by the Society of Chartered Surveyors Ireland (SCSI) and agriculture organisation Teagasc.The 48-year-old politician received about €44,600 in EU funds under the Common Agricultural Policy (Cap) subsidy payments to farmers over the three years from October 2022.Heydon is serving as Minister for Agriculture at a time when the Government is involved in progressing negotiations on the EU budget for 2028 to 2034 as part of Ireland’s presidency of the Council of the European Union. The EU budget funds schemes such as the Cap payments to farmers.READ MOREThere are concerns within the farming community in Ireland and across Europe that the overall allocation for the Cap will be cut under proposals on the table for the EU budget.The Fine Gael politician defended his receipt of EU farm payments, insisting they do not clash with his role as Minister for Agriculture. [ Investigation: The Oireachtas farmers: who are the largest landowners in Leinster House? Opens in new window ]His spokesman said: “Being a farmer and receiving Cap payments does not, in itself, constitute a conflict of interest for the Minister for Agriculture.”Heydon receives Cap payments under the same rules that apply to 120,000 eligible farmers countrywide, his spokesman said, adding: “His payments are not determined by him, nor does his position as Minister give him any preferential access to Cap funding.”“It would be an extraordinary position to suggest that a Minister for Agriculture cannot credibly advocate for the principal agricultural support programme in Europe because he happens to be one of the 120,000 farmers who participates in that programme,” the spokesman said.Martin Heydon with cattle on his farm in Blackrath, Kilcullen, Co Kildare in 2022. Photograph: Damien Eagers While Heydon tops the list of agricultural landowners in Leinster House, there are other TDs and Senators with significant farming interests and who have also received Cap payments.The Irish Times investigation found that about one in seven members of the Oireachtas have an interest in farming, with some owning large landholdings.The Oireachtas farm owners include Fine Gael backbencher Willie Aird who has 100 dairy cows and an estimated €2.3 million worth of farmland across 196 acres in Co Laois.Former junior agriculture minister Michael Healy-Rae, the Independent TD from Kerry, has declared some 146 acres between farmland and forestry in Co Kerry, land estimated to be worth between €944,500 and €1.73 million depending on its quality.Minister for Enterprise Peter Burke is also among the top 10 farmland owners with 110 acres of land he owns or co-owns which he estimates is worth €780,000. He has also received Cap payments in recent years.Asked about any potential for conflict of interest, Burke said: “The law requires all my material interests to be disclosed, and I am in full compliance of same, and all my actions are.” Peter Burke: 'The law requires all my material interests to be disclosed, and I am in full compliance of same, and all my actions are.' Photograph: Sam Boal/Collins Photos Independent Ireland leader Michael Collins owns agricultural land while Social Democrats leader Holly Cairns listed an occupation of “farmer” in her 2025 declaration of interests, though she has not worked on the family farm since 2020 and derives no income from it. On the question of whether there was any conflict, Heydon’s spokesman said the Minister was “fully subject to the statutory ethics and disclosure requirements applicable to Ministers and other public office holders.”“There is no inherent conflict in a farmer serving as Minister for Agriculture any more than there is an inherent conflict in a person with experience of a particular sector being appointed to lead the department responsible for that sector,” he said.The spokesman gave the examples of a businessperson being minister for enterprise or a teacher being minister for education.Oireachtas members are obliged to declare other occupations to the Register of Interests when they receive income of more than €2,600 from them in the relevant year.But they are not required to say how much they make, nor is there a requirement to specify in their declarations what income comes from Cap payments.