Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 21 March 2023
1567. Deputy Alan Dillon asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine if a late application will be accepted for the ACRES scheme on exceptional circumstances; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [13360/23]
View answerThe Government has committed €1.5 billion to ACRES over its duration with the aim of facilitating the participation of 50,000 farmers. This is a significant number so the intake into the scheme is being phased, with at least two tranches. Tranche 1 of ACRES opened for applications on Monday 17th October 2022 and closed Wednesday 7th December 2022 and all interested farmers were encouraged to apply. The closing was extended by two weeks to accommodate late applications.
The scheme received over 46,000 applicants. All valid applications submitted for Tranche 1 have been accepted into the Scheme, and farmers are currently receiving their formal notifications.
Tranche 1 is now closed for applications. For those farmers who were not in a position to apply for the Scheme in Tranche 1, they will have an opportunity to apply for it in Tranche 2. It is proposed that Tranche 2 will open for applications later this year with contracts in that Tranche to commence from 1 January 2024.
