Another interim payment needs to be issued to farmers in the Agri Climate Rural Environment Scheme (ACRES), the Irish Farmers’ Association (IFA) has said.

This comes as around 10,400 farmers are waiting on an ACRES payment. Of this figure, 2,700 farmers are waiting on a balancing payment from 2023.

Speaking after a Farmers' Charter of Rights meeting in Portlaoise on Friday, IFA Connacht chair Brendan Golden said Minister for Agriculture Martin Heydon has to “sort out the ACRES mess”.

“[The] IFA is calling for an urgent interim payment from national funds, similar to last year. Unlike his predecessor, the Minister is refusing to do this.

“He is backing his own officials in Johnstown Castle to get it sorted, but they have not delivered on ACRES to date.

“While ACRES is an overly complex scheme, it is clear that there is a systemic problem or under-resourcing in some of the Department divisions that operate in Johnstown Castle. Either way, the best outcome for farmers is to make an interim payment from national funds now,” he said.

‘Frustration’

Referencing a public IFA meeting held on Thursday in Athlone with Department officials, Golden said farmers made clear “their frustration and anger about payment delays”.

“Despite apologies on the night from the officials, farmer after farmer laid it on the line that they have not been paid and are even having difficulty getting through to Johnstown Castle on the phone,” he added

The Connacht chair said farm families in ACRES would have factored in this money to their business.

“We got a commitment from senior Department officials that over 750 of those awaiting balancing 2023 payments will be paid this week, that payment runs will happen at least fortnightly and that the vast majority of all outstanding payments will be cleared and paid by end [of] May.

“These commitments need to be delivered upon and the Minister needs to up the ante to ensure it happens.

“I accept some farmers need to get low emissions slurry spreading (LESS) statements in by the end of this week, some need to get their mandatory education complete and rare breed certifications returned for cases to progress, but for the vast majority of those unpaid, the ball is in the Department’s court to get cases cleared and payments out,” he added.