Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 20 April 2023
138. Deputy Rose Conway-Walsh asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine to clarify scoring under the scheme for farmers with commonage land where there is active turf cutting; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [18495/23]
View answerI am assuming that the Deputy is referring to the Agri-Climate Rural Environment Scheme, (ACRES). There was significant interest in ACRES and I was pleased to announce last month that all valid applications of the 46,230 received in Tranche 1 would be accepted into the Scheme.
Participants in ACRES commit to undertake, under their ACRES contract, certain actions for a period of five years.
Applicants with Commonage received priority entry into ACRES General under Tier 1 to incentivise farmers to help ensure that habitats on such lands are maintained or restored to good condition through appropriate management practices.
There is a set payment per hectare for commonages of 10 hectares or less with a requirement for the submission for a Commonage Farm Plan prepared by certain advisors.
As there is a results-based payment associated with commonages of greater than 10 hectares, the application includes a commitment to have the commonage scored by an approved commonage assessor by a certain deadline.
A payment will then be paid to that shareholder based on the score awarded. This assessment can be carried out without the consent or agreement of all shareholders where at least one shareholder is an ACRES participant.
This results-based score will assess all activities taking place on the commonage. Active turf cutting is regarded as a damaging activity and will have an impact on the score awarded. My Department is working closely with the ACRES Co-Operation teams to develop a protocol to mitigate against the impact of active turf cutting on the score awarded. These activities will therefore affect the ACRES payment.
ACRES aims to incentivise shareholders to come together in commonage management groups to address factors that may be affecting the results-based score on the commonage.
ACRES participants in the ACRES Co-operation areas will also be able to avail of funding in respect of non-productive investments and landscape action supports designed to improve habitat restoration. These capital investments provide a mechanism for score improvement with consequent positive impacts on the level of payment in subsequent years.
