Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 27 September 2022
605. Deputy Michael Lowry asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine if existing forestry woodland, if present on the farm, included in the Farm Sustainability Plan is to be completed on the generic land management for all ACRES applications; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [47278/22]
View answerACRES is Ireland's new agri-environment scheme proposed as part of Ireland's new CAP Strategic Plan for the 2023 to 2027 period. This new €1.5bn scheme will be farmer-friendly and designed to address biodiversity, climate, air and water quality challenges. ACRES will also provide income support for up to 50,000 farm families.
ACRES applications will include a Farm Sustainability Plan (FSP) to ensure that approved applications achieve the best possible environmental return. This online function is hosted on the Department's GLAM system and is now available for advisors to begin the process of preparing farm plans in advance of the ACRES opening in October.
Each advisor will work with their clients to choose the most appropriate actions for their holding and to ensure these actions are in the most appropriate locations. Chosen actions will be mapped by advisors on the FSP / GLAM portal.
The FSP portal gives a view of mapping layers that will enable advisors and their clients identify essential on-farm features. In preparing the ACRES FSP advisors will choose actions from a menu listed in the ACRES specifications. There is no requirement for advisors to map existing forestry.
