Martin Heydon (Kildare South, Fine Gael)

I thank the Deputy for raising the important matter of the agri-climate rural environment scheme, ACRES, which is the flagship environmental scheme provided under the 2023-27 CAP strategic plan, with €1.5 billion in Exchequer and EU funding allocated over the course of the scheme. There are currently just under 53,700 participants in ACRES.

ACRES payments issue on a scheme year basis, with 2023 being the first scheme year for tranche 1 participants and 2024 being the first year for those who are in tranche 2. Almost €250 million has issued in respect of the 2023 scheme year, with over 99% of participants paid. A total of €268.4 million has issued in respect of the 2024 scheme year and over 98% have now received the payment. Finally, 2025 advance payments have now commenced, with €179.6 million issuing in the first two payment runs. These payments will bring the amount paid in respect of ACRES since its commencement in 2023 to almost €700 million. This reflects the Government’s commitment to achieving a range of environmental, biodiversity, water quality and climate objectives by supporting farm families in their environmental journeys.

ACRES is an ambitious and complex scheme, and there have been challenges as a result. We are overcoming those challenges through the commitment of all those involved in the scheme, including farmers themselves, ACRES advisers and the ACRES co-operation project teams. The main issues that have impacted on the making of payments have been identified and they include contract and ownership or partnership issues, issues with scorecards and the alignment of ACRES data with basic income support for sustainability, BISS, scheme information. My Department is actively resolving the remaining issues through, for example, the development of the required IT functionality and the investigation of issues associated with specific contracts.

In cases such as change of contract, my Department is unable to progress the payment claim until the legal requirements have been resolved. We are working through these issues. We have identified and addressed the issues that arose at the start and the system is functioning much better now. I am happy to expand further in my supplementary response.

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