Proposed penalties for the late submission of scorecards under the new Agri Climate Rural Environment Scheme (ACRES) should be scrapped, the Irish Farmers’ Association (IFA) has said.
During a recent training session for farm advisors, officials from the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (DAFM) outlined penalties relating to farmer payments under ACRES.
This includes parcels being removed from the scheme where scorecards completed by planners were not submitted on time.
ACRES
IFA Rural Development chair Michael Biggins strongly rejected the suggestion that penalties would be imposed on farmers as a result of planners not submitting their ACRES scorecards on time.
“We understand the huge pressure some advisors are facing because of the interest in ACRES, but it is unacceptable that farmers would be penalised if planners don’t have the capacity to score the farmland.
“Farmers are paying planners to score their land as part of the scheme. If it is not delivered within the department timeframe, farmers should not take the hit,” he said.
Biggins called on Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Charlie McConalogue and his officials to scrap the proposed penalties.
“On one hand, the minister wants farmers to adopt this new results-based approach to environmental scheme payments. But on the other, he is happy to penalise them and exclude them from other scheme measures if their planner doesn’t keep their side of the bargain.
“It absolutely beggars’ belief that the minister and his officials can stand over this,” he said.
“There needs to be some flexibilities and innovative solutions found. It is outrageous to enforce a rule that will punish farmers and cut their payment due to the fault of a third party.
“Farmers cannot be the scapegoat for the department’s shortcomings,” Biggins added.
The department has outlined similar proposed penalties for farmers in the eight ACRES Co-operation areas, where scoring is mandatory on farmland.
“The results-based score makes up a substantial portion of their overall ACRES payment,” IFA Hill Farming Committee chair, Cáillin Conneely, said.
“Not only would a late scorecard submission incur a payment penalty, but it is also proposed to exclude farmers from applying for landscape actions in the relevant year.
“It is completely counterproductive to what the scheme is trying to achieve,” he said.