Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 23 May 2023
625. Deputy Claire Kerrane asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the engagement his Department has had with farmers who have been negatively financially impacted by abolishment of the BurrenLife scheme and the move to ACRES; the action that has been taken to address these cases; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [24500/23]
View answerI acknowledge the excellent work done to date under the Burren Programme and am pleased that ACRES, the new flagship agri-environment scheme under the CAP Strategic Plan 2023-2027, has been designed using learnings from that Programme, amomgst others. The Government has committed €1.5 billion to ACRES over the term 2023 to 2027. This is the largest amount ever committed to an agri-environment scheme.
It was always the intention to mainstream positive actions from programmes like the Burren Programme into a large-scale agri-environment scheme, to give a much larger environmental benefit, and a greater number of farmers contributing to environmental goods such as biodiversity and water. Based on the learnings from the Burren Programme and European Innovation Partnership (EIP) projects and using a habitats-based approach, ACRES will contribute to improving biodiversity, climate, air, and water quality outcomes.
The Burren Programme had a participation of just over 300 farmers. In ACRES, over 1,000 farmers, more than a 300% increase, will participate in the ACRES Burren Aran Co-operation (CP) Zone. Increasing farmer participation numbers beyond the limited numbers at present requires a balance to be struck to ensure that an attractive payment rate is offered whilst ensuring that as many farmers as possible can join, with the resulting increase in the amount of land providing environmental benefit.
Under the Burren Programme, 11,000ha of species-rich habitats were assessed, whereas it is expected that 40,000ha of high-nature value farmland will be assessed under ACRES CP in the Burren/Aran area. This means that 29,000ha of additional land will be subject to an assessment of the habitat quality and the threats and pressures to habitats and species in those areas. ACRES, therefore, represents a significant upscaling in environmental monitoring and assessment in the region.
This strong interest expressed by Burren farmers in applying to join ACRES means the learnings gained from the Burren Programme and EIP projects can be applied to a greater number of farms. The broader reach of the new Scheme will contribute to improving biodiversity, climate, air and water quality over a greater area of the Burren and Aran Islands.
