Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 17 January 2024
1205. Deputy Michael McNamara asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine if he will outline the amount allocated for payments under the agri-climate rural environment scheme in the 2023 estimates. [56799/23]
View answer1206. Deputy Michael McNamara asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine if he will outline the amount allocated for payments under the agri-climate rural environment scheme in the 2023 supplementary estimates. [56800/23]
View answer1207. Deputy Michael McNamara asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the underspend on the agri-climate rural environment scheme in 2023 to date; and the estimated underspend at the end of 2023. [56801/23]
View answer1208. Deputy Michael McNamara asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the carry-over from 2023 to 2024 for payments under the agri-climate rural environment scheme which fell due to be paid in 2023; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [56802/23]
View answerI propose to take Questions Nos. 1206, 1205, 1207 and 1208 together.
In line with the commitment in the Programme for Government, the Agri-Climate Rural Environment Scheme (ACRES) was launched in 2022 as the flagship environmental scheme under the CAP Strategic Plan (CSP) 2023-2027, with a total budget of €1.5 billion.
The funding allocation for the ACRES scheme in 2023 was €160 million (in total, across both ACRES General and ACRES Co-operation streams).
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. This decision to accept all valid applications for Tranche 1 put significant pressure on the ability to pay all participants in 2023.
ACRES General Payments commenced on December 15th 2023, with 17,145 farmers being paid a total of €76.5 million. This represents two thirds of all ACRES General participants. 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..
