DAFM called to give 'concrete' ACRES timeline at charter meeting
The Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (DAFM) has been called on to provide "concrete timelines and answers" on the Agri Climate Rural Environment Scheme (ACRES) at a Farmers' Charter meeting this week.
The Irish Farmers' Association (IFA) is asking officials from the department to come to the meeting on Friday (March 7) armed with answers on how to rectify a myriad of issues with the scheme, particularly delayed payments.
Commenting on the upcoming meeting, ÌFA Connacht regional chairperson Brendan Golden said: "The time for talk is over. Farmers have done the work required of them.
"Now they expect what's owed to them, or another interim ACRES payment, similar to the one made last spring.
IFA rural development chairperson John Curran said "pressure is building" on may farmers around the country.
"For [Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine Martin Heydon] to come out in recent days and say it will be the end of June before everyone is sorted is nothing short of an insult, especially those waiting on their full 2023 payments," Curran said.
He added: "It's a complete nonsense at this stage. Farmers deserve better, and certainly they shouldn't be left in complete limbo, unable to get any confirmation or clarification from DAFM on what's holding up their individual payments, or when it's expected to land in their accounts.
"At a minimum, that's what we will be looking for from DAFM on Friday.
"The interim payment was a necessary intervention this time last year. History has repeated itself and it's needed again as a matter of priority," Curran said.
Last week, Minister Heydon said that it is his department’s “overarching objective” to make all outstanding payments for 2023 and 2024 under ACRES by the end of June.
Speaking in response to a parliamentary question from Sinn Féin Waterford TD Conor McGuinness, Minister Heydon said the department will be issuing regular online updates over the coming period on the progress being made on payments.
He said that there are a number of reasons impacting the timeline of payments, including instances where farmers have applied to transfer their contracts; issues in relation to the submission of scorecards for the results-based payment; and the completion of outstanding IT functionality.
According to the minister, the ongoing payment runs, which are taking place on a fortnightly basis for all cases that have passed the required validation checks, “are evidence that this work is being prioritised, and that issues are being resolved as quickly as possible”.
