Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 1 February 2024
340. Deputy Brendan Smith asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine if all eligible applicants under tranche 2 of ACRES will be accepted on to the scheme; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [4903/24]
Amharc ar fhreagraIt will not be possible to accept all of the applications received for Tranche 2 of the Agri-Climate Rural Environment Scheme (ACRES). Just over 9,000 applications were received, while the available funding only facilitates the acceptance of approximately 4,000 applicants.
This will bring the overall number of participants in the Scheme up to 50,000, in line with Ireland’s CAP Strategic Plan 2023-2027.
A ranking and selection process will be undertaken, as provided for in the Terms and Conditions for Tranche 2 of ACRES. The selection criteria and marking system to be used are also in those Terms and Conditions, which are available on my Department’s website.
The guiding principle in framing those criteria is to maximise the contribution that ACRES can make to meeting a range of environmental, climate and biodiversity objectives and challenges.
