Minister for Agriculture; Food and the Marine statement on Delays in ACRES payments, Number of participating Farmers and the steps the Department is taking to revolve the matter

In response to John McGuinness' question the Minister states:

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.