Naoise Ó Cearúil (Kildare North, Fianna Fail)
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125. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the expected timeline for delivering a farm succession scheme that supports generational renewal; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [36524/25]

Martin Heydon (Kildare South, Fine Gael)
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The new Programme for Government emphasises “supporting inter-generational farm succession.” Food Vision 2030, our shared strategy for the agri-food sector, highlights that ensuring generational renewal in farming is vital for the sector’s long-term viability and social sustainability in rural Ireland.

Demographic challenges facing agriculture are not unique to Ireland; the difficulty of attracting young people into farming is a recognised issue at both national and EU levels, including in the recent EU Commission Vision for Agriculture and Food.Under Ireland’s CAP Strategic Plan (CSP) 2023-2027, I am committing significant investment to promote generational renewal, with measures including:

• A Complementary Income Support for Young Farmers’ Scheme, supporting young farmers in establishing their businesses. Payments for 2024 under the CISYF began in early December 2024.
• The National Reserve 2023-2027, which offers support to two priority groups—Young Farmers and New Farmers—with approximately €3.1 million paid out for the 2024 scheme.
• Under the TAMS capital investment measure, a 60% grant rate for qualified young farmers remains available.
• A Collaborative Farming Grant Scheme to financially encourage partnerships between existing farmers and trained young farmers.
• The Succession Planning Advice Grant, which helps cover costs for independent legal and financial advice to older farmers planning succession.

Ruairí Ó Murchú (Louth, Sinn Fein)
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126. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the current number of farmers still awaiting ACRES payment; the plans in place to clear the backlog; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [36523/25]

Martin Heydon (Kildare South, Fine Gael)
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The Agri-Climate Rural Environment Scheme or ACRES is the flagship environmental scheme provided under the 2023-2027 CAP Strategic Plan, with €1.5 billion in Exchequer and EU funding allocated over the course of the scheme. There are currently just under 54,000 participants in ACRES.

Payments in respect of ACRES continue to issue on a weekly basis as cases pass all required validation checks. A total of €512.2 million has now issued since ACRES payments commenced at the end of 2023.

In the case of the 2023 scheme year, almost 99% of participants have been paid in full. As regards 2024, 97% of participants have received their advance payments, and almost 94% of participants have now received a balancing payment.

My Department is committed to resolving the issues that have been delaying the remaining payments as soon as possible. Additional resources have been deployed, and we are systematically working through the remaining issues associated with the outstanding cases.

These issues can range from internal departmental matters such as the processing of changes of ownership and the finalisation of payment calculation processes, to external, applicant- or advisor-related matters such as the submission of documentation.

While we are continuing to work on those internal issues, I would also take this opportunity to remind farmers and advisors to submit, as soon as possible, any outstanding documentation that will allow my Department to progress and complete their claims as soon as possible.

My Department will continue to issue regular online updates over the coming period on the progress being made.