The Irish Creamery Milk Suppliers’ Association (ICMSA) has called for 2023 Agri-Climate Rural Environment Scheme (ACRES) balancing payments to be “prioritised”.
Deputy president for the ICMSA Eamon Carroll said that 2,000 farmers are still awaiting the balance of their payments from the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (DAFM).
The deputy president described the delays as “outrageous” and said that it “risked” farmers’ confidence in future participation of agri-environmental schemes.
The ICMSA is asking both DAFM and the farmers involved to engage with one another and solve the outstanding issues.
“We still have around 7% of farmer-participants waiting this length of time for their total payment for a scheme on which they might have spent monies up to 24 months ago. In fact, there are still those that have not received any payment in respect of 2023,” Carroll said.
Carroll said that there are still over one-in-four of Tranche 1 farmers awaiting their 2024 payment and this rises to over three-in-ten for Tranche 2.
ICMSA
“The offhand way that we learn that payments will ‘resume’ in in January is way too casual and shows no sign of the urgency that should be there at this stage,” Carroll said.
“We have said it many times, but it bears repeating: There is the core of a good scheme here and it would be a pity if the slow and unconvincing administration were to dampen the enthusiasm of farmers to enter schemes into the future,” Carroll added.
“The departments needs to get on this immediately and show the level of commitment and engagement that the participating farmers had every right to expect,” he said.
The ICMSA will be raising the issue of delayed balancing payments at the next meeting of the Farmers Charter, which sets out the timelines for applications, payments, inspections and appeals.