Claire Kerrane (Roscommon-Galway, Sinn Fein)
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300. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine if he will provide an update on the forgotten farmers scheme; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [6915/25]

Martin Heydon (Kildare South, Fine Gael)
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As part of Budget 2025 my Department secured an allocation of €5 million for 2025 to support the group of farmers commonly referred to as forgotten farmers. Work is ongoing to address a number of remaining issues, before the details of the eligibility requirements and benefits to successful applicants under any scheme can be finalised.

I am committed to delivering for these farmers, many of whom find themselves in this situation through no fault of their own, at the earliest opportunity in 2025.

Michael Cahill (Kerry, Fianna Fail)
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301. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the reasons for long delays in ACRES payments across County Kerry; if he will simplify the process and expedite all outstanding payments to farmers who urgently require their money to pay outstanding bills, and so on; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [6961/25]

Martin Heydon (Kildare South, Fine Gael)
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ACRES is the first scheme of its kind to upscale results-based payments to a national level. This is a significant change in implementing such an innovative and ambitious scheme, but it has come with complexities and challenges.

There is significant work involved in the verification of payment claims, and in the calculation and issuing of payments to over 54,000 participants from all twenty six counties, including county Kerry. Most of these applications consist of a number of actions, or there may be a number of different habitats to be assessed, and multiple scorecards to be completed and submitted.

Certain issues such as transfers of contracts, late or non-submission of scorecards, and alignment of ACRES information with data held by the Department on other IT systems, have contributed to the delay in the making of those payments. Work is ongoing to resolve these issues, and every effort is being made to process outstanding payments as quickly as possible.

We have made significant progress in 2024. Almost all ACRES participants have received a payment (either interim or final) in respect of their participation in the Scheme in 2023, and remaining balancing payments continue to be processed. In addition, just under 78 % of participants have been paid their advance payment in respect of their participation in the Scheme in 2024.

As is the case with all EU co-funded schemes, claims for payments under ACRES must pass regulatory controls and validations before payment can issue.

My Department is continuing to investigate and progress all cases that have not yet received payments. As these are resolved, they are added to the next scheduled pay run. Pay runs are taking place fortnightly in order to ensure that these payments are issued in a timely manner.

My Department will be issuing regular online updates over the coming period on the progress being made, with the overarching objective of having all outstanding payments in respect of farmers’ participation in ACRES in 2023 and 2024 made by the end of June.