Holly Cairns
Question:1181. Deputy Holly Cairns asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine what supports will be made available to farmers who struggle financially due to the delay in ACRES payments. [56491/23]
View answerWednesday, 17 January 2024
Questions (1181)
Written answers
In line with the Programme for Government commitment, the Agri-Climate Rural Environment Scheme (ACRES), was launched in 2022. There was exceptional demand for entry into the Scheme, which demonstrates the interest of farmers to take on actions to address climate, biodiversity and environmental issues.
While it was initially planned to take in up to 50,000 applicants over two Tranches, with 30,000 in Tranche 1, as a Government the decision was made to accept all valid applications submitted under Tranche 1. There are currently just under 46,000 farmers actively participating in the scheme.
ACRES Payments commenced on December 15th, with payment issuing in the initial payment run to two thirds of all ACRES General participants. A total of €76.5m was paid to more than 17,000 ACRES General participants, with an average payment of almost €4,500 per individual farmer. ACRES advance payments represent 85% of the total scheme year payment, with the balance to be paid later in 2024.
ACRES payments have added to the range of financial supports - coming to a total of approximately €1.4 billion - delivered to Irish farmers under the new CAP Strategic Plan since October. This includes payments under the Basic Income Support for Sustainability (BISS), the Areas of Natural Constraints Scheme, Eco Scheme, and the Organic Farming Scheme.
Pay runs will continue this month for ACRES general participants as they pass all required validation checks. Due to the additional complexity associated with the Co-operation Project (CP) stream, payments for ACRES CP participants will begin to issue in February 2024. There are no plans to make additional supports available in the interim.