Niamh Smyth
Ceist:138. Deputy Niamh Smyth asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine if he will provide clarity to farmers regarding the ACRES scheme; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [53082/22]
Amharc ar fhreagraTuesday, 25 October 2022
Ceisteanna (138)
Freagraí scríofa
The Agri-Climate Rural Environment Scheme (ACRES) is a voluntary scheme whereby farmers, when approved into the Scheme, undertake certain actions on their land for at least five years.
ACRES is a well-funded and farmer-friendly scheme that will provide an important income support to farmers while also drive tangible environmental improvements.
Those actions have been designed to contribute significantly to achieving improved biodiversity, climate, air and water quality outcomes. The Government has committed €1.5 billion to ACRES over its duration, which will facilitate the participation of 50,000 participants in ACRES overall.
The Scheme is open to active farmers aged over 18 years of age who have submitted an application under the Basic Payment Scheme (BPS) in 2021 and declared the land being brought into ACRES in their BPS application in 2022. Details about eligibility for, and the core requirements of, the Scheme are available in the Scheme Terms and Conditions on the Department’s website.
An eligible farmer may apply for one of the approaches available under ACRES, namely the ACRES Co-operation approach available to farmers in eight defined high priority geographical areas, or the ACRES General approach which is available nationally outside of the eight ACRES Co-operation zones. A farmer may only apply for one of the approaches, eligibility for which will be determined by the location of their holding.
It is currently envisaged that the breakdown of the overall 50,000 participants will be 30,000 in ACRES General and 20,000 in ACRES Co-operation – this will, however, be ultimately subject to the level of interest in each approach. The intake into the scheme is phased, with at least two tranches, to spread the workload on advisors.
There is a maximum annual payment of up to €7,311 available to a participant in ACRES General while a participant in the ACRES Co-operation approach may receive up to €10,500 in a given year, with the contracts in both approaches to be for a minimum of five years.
An applicant is required to engage an approved ACRES advisor to prepare and submit the ACRES application on behalf of an applicant, with a Farm Sustainability Plan (FSP) to accompany such application.
The Department provided an Information Webinar on ACRES for farmers on the evening of 16th September 2022, a recording of which is available on the Department’s website. Information was also provided on ACRES at the Department’s stand at the National Ploughing Championship in September.
The ACRES system was opened on 17th October 2022 for the submission of applications under Tranche 1. The closing date for the submission of applications under the current Tranche is on Monday 21st November 2022.