Mary Lou McDonald (Dublin Central, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

It has not been a good year for delays to a range of key farm payments. Farmers have already experienced serious delays to BISS payments and to payments under the ANC and eco-schemes. Thousands of these payments are still outstanding. Now, this trend of delay is affecting payments under the agri-environmental scheme known as ACRES. Many farmers have been told the very best they can hope for is for these payments to land from February 2024.

Farmers were actively encouraged by the Government to undertake work and incur expense under this scheme. Now, their bills are mounting up and they are being left high and dry as we approach Christmas. Does the Taoiseach agree with me that this is completely unacceptable? Will he tell the Minister, Deputy McConalogue, to step in urgently to ensure these payments are made before Christmas, as was promised? Thousands of farming families are depending on them.

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