Watch: On the Record - 'ACRES is too complex' - Heydon
The new Minister for Agriculture, Food, Fisheries and the Marine, Martin Heydon, has said it is "not acceptable" to him that certain farmers have not been paid "back from 2023" in relation to the Agri Climate Rural Environment Scheme (ACRES).
Speaking to Agriland after visiting farms yesterday (Tuesday, January 28) in Co. Leitrim that had been impacted by Storm Éowyn, Minister Heydon said ACRES "is really, really challenging".
"We have got to fix the anomalies there. ACRES is too complex, there are too many actions, there are too many different systems needed for a computer system to be administered.
"We have got to get back to basics and for me a reformed Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) would deliver real simplification for farmers and actually means less schemes.
"I think we need to find an easier way to get the money to farmers to support them in their food production system, to make sure they get as good a return for their produce as they can, get them the supports and let farmer supports be what they say on the tin".
He believes farmers should be supported with "much less bureaucracy and red tape" and he feels that this is not compatible with "increasingly complex schemes".
"We have got to make them more streamlined and more straightforward and have less of them," the minister added.
The Fine Gael TD for the Kildare south constituency, who was appointed to the role of Minister for Agriculture, Food, Fisheries and the Marine last Thursday (January 23) told Agriland that "farming is my DNA - it's who I am".
"I was raised in a family where being a farmer was part of your identity, you identify yourself as a farmer.
"I don't think if you're a structural engineer and you get asked the question who are you - that you say you're a structural engineer.
"But if you're a farmer you do - I get that, that is me, it is me and my wife and my four young kids and our farm at home in south Kildare where I still have beef and tillage," Minister Heydon added.
But he also said that the fact is a farmer will not decide if he is a good minister or not and what he wants to do now is "get stuck into the detail, to work closely with people and build relationships".
In a wide ranging interview for Agriland’s On the Record Series 3 Minister Heydon said he is "determined to deliver for our agricultural sector".
Whether this is in relation to Ireland's position on the EU Mercosur trade deal, which he believes is "wrong on a number of different levels in its current form" or on the schedule of farm inspections.
Minister Heydon said he hopes to be in "every nook and cranny of the country meeting farmers from all different enterprises and all different sectors" in his new ministerial role.
"I am really optimistic for agriculture, we are going through a period of change but I want to be able to add value to farmers' incomes and make sure that we support farmers in the challenges they face so we can address key issues like the area of succession," the minister added.
