Natasha Newsome Drennan (Carlow-Kilkenny, Sinn Fein)
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121. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine if the €20 million announced in funding for ACRES will result in additional farmers entering into the scheme; if not, if it will result in increased grants for farmers already in the scheme; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [55019/25]

Martin Heydon (Kildare South, Fine Gael)
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The Agri-Climate Rural Environment Scheme, or ‘ACRES’, is the national agri-environment/climate measure provided under Ireland’s CAP Strategic Plan 2023-2027. The Government has committed over €1.5 billion to the scheme over its duration, the largest amount ever allocated to an agri-environment scheme.

The achievements to date under this scheme include the results-based scoring of more than 1 million hectares of agricultural land, the planting of 574,000 trees, the planting of 26,000 hectares with catch crops and the protection of almost 9,000 kilometres of watercourses under the Riparian Zone action.

As regards biodiversity, 7,200 hectares of land are providing a food source for birds throughout the autumn and winter, while just under 14,000 boxes have been built for barn owls.

There are currently just under 54,000 active participants in ACRES. As the scheme is at full capacity, there are at present no plans to open any further tranches for new entrants into the scheme. It should be noted that the regulations require that commitments must be undertaken for a minimum of five years, meaning that the remaining time period of the current CAP would not be sufficient to allow new entrants.

Payment rates within ACRES are calculated on the basis of additional costs, income foregone and transaction costs, as required by the regulations. These payment rates have been independently verified and approved by the European Commission.

The allocation of €280 million for 2026, as announced in the recent Budget, will be used to meet the current commitments of the scheme, including core payments, payments for Non-Productive Investments, Landscape Actions and ACRES training, and for the services of the ACRES Co-Operation Project Teams.