Interim payments for Acres scheme farmers

INTERIM payments of €4,000 and €5,000 are being paid to participants in Tranche 1 of the agri-climate rural environment scheme (Acres) who have not yet received their advance payments for participation in the scheme.

Amounts of €4,000 are being paid to those in the Acres general approach and €5,000 to participants in the Acres co-operation project approach. 

The overall amount being paid, in this first pay run, is €113.617m to a total of 23,709 Acres participants. 

Minister for Agriculture Charlie McConalogue said a small number of applications require further processing, and the interim payment in respect of this cohort will issue next week. 

As regards the timing of Acres payments, Minister McConalogue said the Department is continuing to process Tranche 1 contracts with the intention of making payments to all eligible participants in June 2024.  

‘The combination of the numbers involved, the complexity of the payment calculations and this being the first year of the Acres scheme has meant that the processing of advance payments is taking longer than envisaged,’ Minister McConalogue added. 

‘Notwithstanding these factors, my Department has already issued advance payments to the value of €88.4m to 19,719 participants, and continues to work to ensure that the processing of Acres payments is a priority, with the focus now very much on issuing payments in June 2024.’