Key issues around “capacity, infrastructure and budget” remain on the table in relation to the Agri Climate Rural Environment Scheme (ACRES) according to the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine.
The clock is ticking for Minister Charlie McConalogue and the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (DAFM) to meet the minister’s own deadline of informing ACRES applicants of their status “before the end of February”.
The minister has told members of the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine that his “objective, if possible, is to be in a position to accept all 46,000 applicants to the current tranche of the scheme”.
But he also warned TDs and senators that there “are operational considerations” for his department and if all applicants cannot be accommodated in Tranche 1 then he will “assess issues relating to gap years, etc.”.
During a recent committee meeting Minister McConalogue said:
“I want to be certain any next steps do not compromise the integrity of the scheme or our ability to make timely payments to applicants accepted into it.
“It is important to move as quickly as possible on this and I plan to announce next steps very soon. I intend all ACRES applicants will hear from us before the end of February.”
ACRES applicants
But the Fianna Fáil TD for Longford-Westmeath, Joe Flaherty, told the minister that he has been contacted by a large number of farmers in his area who were “marginal farmers” and who are “staring at the possibility of being excluded from ACRES”.
Deputy Flaherty said most of these farmers were dependent on an off-farm income but were also “hugely important both to the local economy but, more importantly, to the local ecology”.
“Is there any way or means to accommodate those farmers, particularly ones who are exiting existing environmental schemes, in order that they will not experience a fall-off in income and supports that will most likely force them to make a draconian decision and exit the sector?” Deputy Flaherty asked.
According to Minister McConalogue, to take in all 46,000 applicants to ACRES in Tranche 1 will require “budgetary adjustment”.
“I have been engaging across government, particularly with the Department of Public Expenditure, National Development Plan Delivery and Reform but also with other ministers and party leaders.
“There is a very strong appetite if we can do it. It would require additional budget as well as making sure we have the logistical capacity,” he added.