The Irish Farmers’ Association (IFA) has claimed that the Agri Climate Rural Environment Scheme (ACRES) is “short changing” farmers, as some delays under the scheme persist.
IFA Hill Farming chairperson Caillin Conneely said that “any faith in ACRES is wearing thin” among hill farmers and those in special areas of conservation (SAC) or co-operation project (CP) zones under the scheme.
“ACRES is becoming a farce at this stage. We were promised up to €10,500 each year for the five years of the scheme, but it’s looking like we won’t get the colour of it at this stage,” Conneely said.
“Minister McConalogue assured us only a few weeks ago that all farmers would get their balancing ACRES payments in June, and that approvals for non-productive investments (NPIs) would commence in late summer.
“Now these commitments have been watered down and we hear that NPI decision letters are planned to issue before the end of this year and that more than one-third of tranche 1 applicants will get no balancing payments at all in June,” he added.
Conneely expressed concern that farmers may see their payments for Areas of Natural Constraint (ANC) or the Basic Income Support for Sustainability (BISS) cut because of unintentional over-payments in ACRES.
“It’s a mess, and it’s just not acceptable,” he commented.
IFA rural development chairperson John Curran said that farm finances have hit hard due weather conditions, and that the department “cannot stand over pulling any over-payment from the next farm payment”.
“It might be the easiest option for them to administer, but it isn’t fair on the farmer who entered into this scheme in good faith to undergo necessary actions and be paid amounts owed on-time,” Curran said.
He called for an agreed repayment schedule to be developed based on a case-by-case, spanning the lifetime of ACRES.
“Otherwise, we are potentially looking at serious cashflow problems later this year,” he said.
“We need a rethink here. If the ACRES scheme is too complex, change it. Farmers can’t continually be at a loss because the department can’t issue payments, or approvals, or scores in time,” Curran added.