Anne Rabbitte (Galway East, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Senator for providing the opportunity to discuss this important topic. I reiterate the environmental ambition of ACRES, with Ireland leading the way among other member states in rolling out a national results-based scheme. The first year of such ambitious schemes brings with it complexities and challenges. The Government regrets delays that have been experienced by many participants in receiving their payments. As I outlined, however, the Minister has put a measure in place for those challenges for the second year.

I take on board exactly what the Senator is saying. As much flexibility as possible is needed. We must understand that, at the end of the day, farming is a challenging career and flexibility with repayment is important. This level of ambition also brings significant long-term opportunities. For example, there is an opportunity for ACRES co-operation programme, CP, participants to increase their level of payment over the course of the scheme through the deployment of non-productive investment and landscape actions. The Minister encourages participants in the ACRES co-operation programme to engage with their ACRES advisers to explore opportunities to increase the environmental status of their lands, raise their scores and in turn potentially increase their core ACRES payment. Over 91% of tranche 1 participants have now had their first year payment fully processed.