Ruairí Ó Murchú (Louth, Sinn Fein)
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1853. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine if he will outline any plans there are to streamline ACRES; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [47425/25]

Martin Heydon (Kildare South, Fine Gael)
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At this point in time over 99% of participants have had their 2023 payments finalised. Over 98% of participants have now received their 2024 advance payment which is worth 85% of the total payment for 2024. Finally almost 97% have also received the remainder of their 2024 payments which issue in the balancing payments.

The issuing of payments has gathered considerable momentum this year as knowledge and experience of the scheme has improved and functionality has been deployed to address challenges that were encountered. I appreciate the patience that was shown by the participants as we resolved these challenges. I instructed my officials to develop solutions to solve issues permanently rather an applying a quick fix to ensure these solutions avoid the same issues presenting again.

The issuing of payments are now in line with the timing of payments in the previous environmental scheme the Green Low-Carbon Agri-Environment Scheme or "GLAS".

In addition to payments, progress has also been made in other aspects of the scheme. The third application window for Non Productive Investments (NPIs) is currently open, along with the claims process for any NPIs approved in the initial two tranches. The first application window for Landscape Actions has also opened.

However this does not mean that we cannot continue to learn. A review of the scheme is taking place as I want to pay participants in a timely manner. We are examining the payment process and investigating if we can make changes that would simplify the process and in turn speed up the issuing of payments.