Concerns over ACRES’ ‘embarrassing’ anomalies despite record numbers

ACRES is now the biggest agri-environment scheme in the history of the State, with 55,000 farmers participating.

Agriculture Minister Charlie McConalogue confirmed the decision to accept all 9,000 applicants into the second tranche of the scheme.

“The level of interest shown by farmers in ACRES since its launch has been hugely encouraging in terms of farmers’ engagement with environmental action,” he said. “I was adamant that none of this engagement and ambition would be left behind.”

Experience

However, Fianna Fáil Senator Paul Daly raised concerns over “embarrassing” anomalies in the scheme, which he said need to be addressed.

Speaking at a hearing of the Oireachtas Agriculture Committee, Mr Daly, who is also a farmer and a participant in ACRES, highlighted his experience at a recent training day for the scheme.

“ACRES is a great scheme. I had my training day... it was a brilliant day and we were brought out to a farm that evening,” he said. “The farm is not far from a lake, and the farmer was getting ACRES money to fence off the river and to fill in the drinking places.

“Everything looked super on the side of the river that was fenced, but the farmer hadn’t included the field on the other side of the river in ACRES and the cattle on the other side were in the river.

“A little bit of joined-up thinking is needed. Looking at it, I was embarrassed. I didn’t think such an anomaly could arise. We all have questions to answer.

“If we are trying to improve the water in that river through a scheme, we need to be fencing off both sides of the river... we are the people who rubber-stamped all these schemes. It didn’t look good and was achieving nothing.”

Responding, Bill Callanan, chief inspector at the Department of Agriculture, said ACRES was a voluntary measure.

“It’s not a whole-farm approach that would have been taken in REPS,” he said. “It’s available to farmers to pick which areas to put in.

“What we are trying to do is that farmers will pick the right measure in the right place,” he said, adding that the future evolution of these schemes is the co-operation of a number of farmers in an area.

Meanwhile, a small number of ACRES tranche one payments are still outstanding, the Department of Agriculture officials told the Agricultural Consultants Association (ACA) AGM last week. Another payment run is expected to be made by the Department this week.

Delayed

However, the interim payment the Department was forced to issue when payments were delayed has meant that farmers received an average payment, rather than their specific payment. Some farmers will have to repay monies to the Department and it’s expected that calculation will be made in June.

Sums of €4,000 and €5,000 were paid to farmers in ACRES general and co-operative participants. Farmers who received less than their full amount should receive the top-up in June, while those who received more will see the difference recouped against their next payment from the Department.

Approval of tranche two applications is expected at the end of March.