Minister Far Too Casual About ACRES Debacle – IFA

Reacting to comments made by Minister Heydon in the Seanad, IFA President Francie Gorman said the Minister is out of touch and disconnected from the stress and financial hardship endured by farm families because of his Department’s failure to deliver ACRES payments as contracted.

“How can the Minister say ‘real progress’ is being made when there are still thousands awaiting ACRES payments. These payments were due last November, with over 2,000 of these awaiting balancing 2023 payments as well. It’s an insult to these farm families to call that progress,” he said.

IFA Rural Development Chair John Curran said the Minister and the Department need to own this mess. “They created ACRES. They haven’t the IT functionality to progress cases, even at this stage in year three of a five-year scheme. They have declined to pay an interim payment to impacted farm families as IFA have called for,” he said.

“There are farmers out there forced to sell breeding stock just to keep the show on the road. That is how serious it is, and through no fault of their own,” John Curran said.

‘Farmers entered ACRES in good faith. They have incurred costs and did what was required of them. The Department need to do the same, now. Enough reputational damage, to the Department and the ACRES scheme, has occurred already,” he said.

‘The Minister needs to re-evaluate his position on delivering an interim payment from national funding and immediately alleviate the financial pressures on impacted farmers – many of whom may also have had to deal with the costs and aftermath of Storm Eowyn and Storm Darragh,” he said.