Some ACRES balancing payments delayed until 2025 - farm org
Some farmers that are awaiting balancing payment for year one of the Agri Climate Rural Environment Scheme (ACRES) will have to continue to wait until next year, one farm organisation has said.
According to the Irish Natura and Hill Farmers' Association (INHFA), some farmers have been informed by the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine that their balancing ACRES payments - for actions carried out in 2023 - would be delayed until next year.
The farm organisation has called for an urgent meeting with Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine Charlie McConalogue to resolve this issue.
Earlier this year, farmers received interim payments pending the finalisation of their payment scorecards.
The INHFA said: "Many farmers have been left in the dark regarding their eligibility for a top-up payment or repayment, and ongoing delays in scorecard distribution have only heightened their frustrations."
However, according to the farm group, the department has now indicated that many farmers in the cohort of 4,000 farmers that have been expecting balancing payments over recent months will not receive their payments until 2025.
Furthermore, no payments for scheme actions in 2024 will issue until the 2023 payments are dealt with, the INHFA said.
Pheilim Molloy, the national chairperson the INHFA, said that this situation is "unacceptable and undermines the financial stability of farmers who rely on these payments".
Molloy also claimed that the INHFA has been contacted by farmers who haven't received any ACRES payment.
He said the situation is an "absolute disgrace and must be addressed".
"The farmers in this position are not only left in limbo without payment, they also face the possibility of a heavy tax payback in 2025 when they could end up with three ACRES payments," Molloy added.
"The INHFA is urgently seeking a meeting with the minister...and department officials to address this crisis and demand immediate action to rectify these delays.
"We cannot allow farmers to bear the brunt of department administrative failures. The livelihoods of our farmers depend on timely payments, and it is totally unacceptable that they face this financial uncertainty," the INHFA national chairperson said.
