Teagasc is recruiting an extra 50 temporary advisers to help complete scheme applications in the new year.

Over 60% of the roles will be filled by extending the contracts of the temporary advisers that Teagasc hired for ACRES, a Teagasc spokesperson said.

Those numbers are being topped up with additional recruits in the regions where derogation applications are a pressure point.

The five-month contracts have a pro-rate starting salary of €36,067/annum.

Meanwhile, with 803 approved advisers and 46,000 applications to the ACRES scheme, all farm advisers completed, on average, 57 ACRES plans each. There are 382 Teagasc advisers and 421 private advisers on the list.