The Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (DAFM) paid out almost €2 million in outstanding payments under the Green Low-Carbon Agri-Environment Scheme (GLAS) in 2024.

GLAS was the precursor to the Agri-Climate Rural Environment Scheme (ACRES) as the main agri-environment scheme under the last Common Agricultural Policy (CAP).

2022 was the last official year of the scheme; however, payments continue to be made in unresolved cases involving appeals and probate, as well as other matters which arose and prevented payment during the scheme's duration.

According to the department's Annual Report for 2024, it spent just over €1.91 million on the scheme last year.

This brings the total expenditure by the department for GLAS to over €1.36 billion since the start of the scheme in 2015.

The department report also shows that outstanding payments continued for the Results-Based Environment Agri Pilot (REAP) scheme in 2024.

This was a pilot project that operated alongside GLAS for 2021 and 2022.

It was designed as a dry run for farmers, advisors and officials for the results-based approach to agri-environment payments used in ACRES.

The reports states that some €120,000 in residual payments issued for REAP in 2024.

Payments also continued in 2024 for the previous iteration of the Targeted Agricultural Modernisation Scheme (TAMS) under the last CAP, often referred to as TAMS II.

Like GLASS, 2022 was the last official year of the previous TAMS programme, before the launch of TAMS III in 2023.

However, payment claims for on-farm investments applied for and approved in the last TAMS can still be made, and payments still issued.

€18.9 million in payments were made in respect of TAMS II in 2024, according to the department report.

DAFM's report outlines the work it carried out in 2024 across various programmes.

The work of the department is divided into five policy areas, referred to as 'Strategic Goals'.

These are:

Strategic Goal 1 - Policy and Strategy;
Strategic Goal 2 - One Health One Welfare, Food Safety, Animal and Plant Health, and Animal Welfare;
Strategic Goal 3 - Farm/Forestry Sector Supports and Controls;
Strategic Goal 4 - Seafood Sector;
Strategic Goal 5 - Corporate Development.

Farm schemes and support measures come under the third of these goals, and that section of the report, which was recently laid before the Oireachtas, outlines the department's expenditure in this area in 2024.

The highest amount of 2024 scheme expenditure was on the Basic Income Support for Sustainability (BISS) and the Complimentary Redistributive Income Support for Sustainability (CRISS), with some €842 million paid in 2024.