A total of 4,619 farmers are awaiting the finalisation of payments under the Agri Climate Rural Environment Scheme (ACRES) for the Cooperation Project (ACRES CP) in respect of the 2024 and 2023 scheme year.

Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine Martin Heydon previously 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.

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.

The minister has outlined the number of farmers in each co-operation zone which this relates to, with figures including farmers from the 2023 and 2024 scheme year. The figures can be seen here:

As is the case with all EU co-funded schemes, claims for payments under ACRES CP must pass regulatory controls and validations before payment can issue.

Minister Heydon said that the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (DAFM) is continuing to investigate and progress all cases that have not yet received payments.

Payment runs are scheduled every 10 days and cases will be added as they pass the required validation checks.

"I can assure you that everything is being done to pay, as soon as possible, all ACRES participants who clear the required pre-payment validation checks," Minister Heydon said.