The Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (DAFM), has confirmed that extra places will be made available in Tranche 2 of the Agri-Climate Rural Environment Scheme (ACRES) so that all applicants can be accepted into the Scheme.
The original target for the scheme was to accept applications from 50,000 farmers. During Tranche 1 of ACRES, over 46,000 applicants were accepted into the scheme. Therefore there were only an additional 4,000 places available for Tranche 2 applicants but due to strong interest, when Tranche 2 opened, 9,000 applications were submitted. At one point it seemed that 5,000 of these applicants would be left disappointed and excluded from the scheme.
However, Minster Charlie McConalogue TD, has now confirmed that the necessary funding is in place to allow all applicants into Tranche 2. ACRES will now become the best funded agri-environment scheme in the history of the state and also the largest, with 55,000 farmers set to participate. It is estimated that an extra 100,000 hectares will now be managed in a meaningful way and will result in significant environmental improvements on farmland across the country.
Minister McConalogue welcomed the strong interest in ACRES, saying “the level of interest shown by farmers in the ACRES Scheme since its launch has been hugely encouraging in terms of farmers’ engagement with environmental action. I was adamant that none of this engagement and ambition would be left behind.” He went on to say “the ambition of farmers had to be recognised and so I engaged with the Department of Public Expenditure, National Development Plan Delivery and Reform (DPENDER) to explore all options to facilitate farmers.”
The result of this extra funding will be seen as a major benefit for biodiversity and environmental services in Ireland over the next decade. DAFM will now make contact with all Tranche 2 applicants shortly to facilitate their enrolment in the scheme.
For more information on ACRES, please click here.
