Over 23,000 farmers to receive interim ACRES payments

Interim payments under Tranche 1 of the Agri-Climate Rural Environment Scheme (ACRES) are set to reach the bank accounts of 23,709 participants in the coming days.

Issued to those who have not yet received their advance payments in the scheme, farmers in ACRES General will receive €4,000 and ACRES Co-operation participants will receive €5,000.

Making the announcement on February 28, the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Charlie McConalogue, T.D, confirmed that interim payments will appear in bank accounts in the coming days. However, the receipt of these payments in farmers’ accounts will depend on the clearance process in various financial institutions.

Minister McConalogue said: “The overall amount being paid, in this first pay run, is €113.617 million to 23,709 ACRES participants. I am pleased to honour my commitment that these payments will be issued by the end of this month. There are, however, a small number of applications requiring further processing, and the interim payment in respect of this cohort will issue in about ten days’ time.”

As regards the timing of ACRES payments, Minister McConalogue added: “My Department is continuing to process ACRES Tranche 1 contracts with the intention of making payments to all eligible participants in June 2024. A letter is being issued this week to all those ACRES participants who are getting the interim payment to let them know that the ACRES payment will take into account the amount already paid to them in the interim payment. It will also outline the process if the ACRES payment is calculated to be less than the amount of the interim payment.”

Concluding, the Minister advised: “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. Notwithstanding these factors, my Department has already issued advance payments to the value of €88.4 million 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.”

Also read: Hedge and tree planting requirements for ACRES Tranche 1