Farmers continued to deliver EU single-payment forms to Department of Agriculture offices across the State up until the midnight deadline last night.
The offices closed at midnight, marking the end of a three-month campaign by the department to get farmers to claim their entitlements under the single-payment scheme.
Under Common Agricultural Policy reform, the single payment will replace all payments made to farmers under the various EU schemes which have operated up until this year.
The break from production-driven agriculture based on animal numbers and crop acreage has brought about an area-based scheme under which farmers will receive an annual payment based on what they received from the EU in the years 2000-2002.
The average payment per farmer has been estimated at around €15,000, and this will be paid in December.
In all, Irish farmers can expect to get €1.3 billion in the single payment, and this will represent over two-thirds of payments generated from the land.
By late last night over 125,000 farmers had returned their single-payment forms to the department's offices.
While a department spokesman was loath to say that every farmer had responded, he said the vast majority of farmers appeared to have filled in and delivered their forms.
"There will always be the one or two people who will not, for various reasons, complete forms, but this has been a major campaign and we expect the vast majority of farmers will have complied."