Victor Boyhan (Independent) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Cathaoirleach for selecting this important Commencement matter. I know the Minister, Deputy McConalogue, is in Brussels to discuss fisheries policy and is held there. I am sorry he cannot be here. The Minister of State is not from the Department of agriculture but I thank him for coming to the House to take this matter on behalf of the Department.

The matter I raise relates to correspondence that many Members will have received, certainly members of the Joint Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine, from Ms Elaine Farrell, who is the Oireachtas representative of the Irish Farmers Association. I thank Ms Farrell for her diligent work in communicating with the Oireachtas, its Members and the committee on all matters to do with agriculture that are relevant to the IFA. I thank the IFA for its continuous advocacy work on behalf of its members, which is powerful and important, as is every representative body in the area of agriculture. They are listened to and receive an audience here. People are committed to agriculture. It is a very important industry in Ireland.

The crux of the matter relates to the agri-climate rural environment scheme, ACRES, the Government's flagship environmental scheme, with which the Minister of State will be very familiar.Its purpose is to compensate, encourage and financially support farmers with a wide range of environmental initiatives on their farms. I think it is a good initiative. It is one that the Minister of State's party very much agrees with and is behind. There was a lot of talk about the role farmers can play in supporting the environment. We know that farmers are the custodians of our land. We also know that it is important that we have a good land policy. We further know the importance of the quality of our water and soil and the environmental and sustainability challenges. I salute the Government for coming up with this new scheme, ACRES. It is clear that there must be a buy-in. It is an indication of the Government's support and commitment that some money is given in advance to farmers who carry out and fulfil the criteria of ACRES. The criteria for the scheme are strict. It is all measurable. That is important too.

The gist of the IFA's argument is that more than 46,000 people applied for ACRES. It is a Government flagship scheme. I do not think anyone disputes that but the problem is the expectation that a substantial number of farmers would receive their payments. I understand that the Department announced that 27,800, or 60% of the people who applied for the scheme, will not receive their payments until February 2024. That is the kernel of it. It is very unsatisfactory. Surely somebody knew there may potentially have been an issue. Farmers deserve to be paid. The representative body, the IFA, has now made a case. At the end of the day, farmers have incurred expenses, including for consultancy, and they have done practical things. They have spent money. If the Government wants to bring the farming community with it, as genuine stakeholders, it must fulfil its side of the bargain. The Government must commit to what was set out in the ground rules. It cannot change the ground rules in terms of business and dialogue.

What the IFA is asking is that the Minister would intervene. I ask the Minister of State to use his offices to talk to the Minister and to deliver some part of the ACRES payment prior to Christmas. That is the ask. Farmers want this payment. They are entitled to it. They signed up in good faith to engage in this system. I hope the Minister of State will be able to shed some light, so that when I leave here with the bit of paper he is going to read out, I can email it to the IFA and to farm organisations and tell them that the Minister is looking favourably in his response at the issue we have raised today with the Minister on behalf of the IFA.