A TD has called on Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Charlie McConalogue, to extend the deadline for applications for the Agri-Climate Rural Environment Scheme (ACRES).

Applications for the €1.5 billion scheme can only be submitted to the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (DAFM) on behalf of farmers by an approved agricultural advisor before the closing date of midnight on November 21.

Budget 2023 provided funding for 30,000 farmers to enter the first tranche of the results-based agri-environmental scheme which opened for applications on October 17.

The new scheme – which will replace the Green, Low-Carbon Agri-Environment Scheme (GLAS) – has two approaches for farmers to enter: ACRES General or ACRES Co-operation.

However, deputy Sean Canney has said due to the volume and workload being placed on farmers, advisors and Teagasc, the deadline should be extended by a month.

"I met with representative of the Irish Farmers' Association (IFA) this weekend and they are concerned that many farmers will be locked out of the scheme if the applications are not submitted on time," the independent Galway East TD said.

"Presently, the existing timeline is too short, and farmers are concerned," he continued.

"In my opinion, the department should be encouraging farmers to joins the ACRES scheme which is a scheme designed to assist farmers take the necessary steps to improve methods of farming and implementing actions to reduce carbon emissions on farms.

"I will be raising this issue with the minister for agriculture as the closing date will not be met by many farmers due to the number of applications," Canney said.