James O'Connor (Cork East, Fianna Fail)
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70. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the number of applications from the Cork East constituency that were accepted into the ACRES scheme; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [11968/23]

Charlie McConalogue (Donegal, Fianna Fail)
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The Agri-Climate Rural Environment Scheme, or ACRES, is the central agri-environment climate measure in Ireland’s CAP Strategic Plan (CSP) 2023-2027. The Government has committed €1.5 billion to ACRES - the largest amount ever committed to an agri-environment scheme.

As the Deputy may be aware, Tranche 1 of the Scheme, which opened for applications last October, was significantly oversubscribed, with over 46,000 applications received for the 30,000 places allocated to be filled under Tranche 1. I was pleased to announce last week the acceptance of all valid applications received for Tranche 1 into the Scheme.

While it is not possible to provide data specifically for the Cork East constituency, I note that, on foot of the decision to accept all valid applications, approval letters have issued to over 3,700 successful applicants who hold Cork Business IDs. I refer to Business IDs as this encompasses individual herd numbers, registered farm partnership and companies registered with my Department.

As I mentioned last week when announcing my decision that all valid applications be accepted into Scheme, farmers have shown their desire to enhance the environmental sustainability of their enterprises through their enthusiasm for the CAP Strategic Plan’s flagship environmental programme. This willingness to contribute to the achievement of a range of climate, environmental and biodiversity objectives, through participation in ACRES, is welcome and encouraging.

The next step in the process is the issue of formal approval letters to the successful applicants which is happening this week. An approval summary, which will show where actions have been mapped on the participant’s farm, will then be posted to ACRES participants by the end of March, with a copy of the Farmland Plant Identification Guide, a booklet produced by my Department to help farmers identify the indicator species on their land to be used in the scoring process.

The effective and timely operation of the scheme will require intensive and focused effort from all concerned including from my Department, from advisors, from Co-operation Project Teams and from farmers.