Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 24 November 2022
333. Deputy Paul Kehoe asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the date that his Department started discussions with the nursery sector in relation to the proposed ACRES scheme which is due to commence on 1 January 2023; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [58583/22]
View answerThe Agri-Climate Rural Environment Scheme (ACRES) is the agri-environment climate measure under Ireland’s CAP Strategic Plan (CSP) 2023 – 2027.
The Department engaged extensively with all stakeholders in relation to the development of Ireland’s CSP. The CAP Consultative Committee was established in May 2019 to allow stakeholders express their views and remain updated as the CAP reform discussions progress.
The Committee met on 33 Occasions, which included thematic workshops on the Green Architecture and proposed interventions, one of which was the agri-environment climate measure, now known as ACRES. Meeting documents and presentations were subsequently published on my Department’s website at: CAP Post 2020 Consultative Committee.
The Department also arranged a series of townhall meetings as well as public consultations to provide as much information as possible and for stakeholder input, including three virtual townhall meetings on 10, 11 and 12 August 2021 and fourteen Information Sessions held nationwide in February and March 2022.
Representatives from the relevant Divisions in the Department also held over a hundred meetings with various representative organisations. The Divisions dealing specifically with the development of ACRES met with Forest Industries Ireland, a group which brings together companies from across the forest sector including nurseries, in September and November 2021.
As both eco-schemes and ACRES offer tree planting options, my Department issued ‘Trader Notice No.12 of 2021 – Tree and hedgerow planting proposed under CAP 2023-2027’ in December 2021. The purpose of this notice was to update the industry on the proposed schemes and to advise on the anticipated strong farmer demand for trees and hedging plants over the period 2023- 2027.
This notice advised that tree/hedgerow planting under ACRES was expected to commence in the 2023-2024 planting season and provided estimates of the number and species of trees and hedging plants that may be required by farmers participating in the Scheme.
Draft specifications for ACRES were subsequently published in August 2022 which again listed the eligible species for the tree-planting and hedgerow actions, with the final Specifications published in early October 2022.
