Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 26 July 2022
2153. Deputy Catherine Connolly asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the details of any analysis his Department has carried out into extending or tailoring the new Agri-Climate Rural Environment Scheme to offshore islands; the details of any analysis his Department has carried out into creating a similar scheme for offshore islands; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [41424/22]
View answerThe new agri-environment scheme under the new CSP - Agri-Climate Rural Environment Scheme (ACRES) - is open to farmers throughout the country, whether they farm on offshore islands or on the mainland. There are two approaches within ACRES - ACRES General and ACRES Co-Operation.
In order to facilitate the implementation of locally targeted and adapted agri-environment measures under the Co-Operation stream, a map of eight Co-operation Project (CP) zones was developed. An interdepartmental working group with representatives from my Department, the National Parks and Wildlife Service, EPA and LAWPRO, was established to identify the relevant areas for the zones.
Development of the map and selection of the areas for the CP stream involved identifying lands throughout the country based on criteria including designated lands, offshore islands, curlew and hen harrier breeding areas and Blue Dot catchments among others. From lands that met these criteria, the interdepartmental group selected the eight co-operation zones based on maximum environmental priority. A map of the CP Zones may be found on my Department’s website and includes offshore islands.
It is important to note that farmers who are ineligible for the ACRES Co-operation approach will be eligible to participate in the General stream of the proposed ACRES.
