Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Charlie McConalogue recently announced that the new closing date for submission of the scorecards is Friday, September 29.
“Given the importance of getting these baseline scores submitted in this first year of the scheme and acknowledging the extra workload it creates for advisors, I have decided to extend this deadline for the submission of completed ACRES scorecards by an additional four weeks,” he said.
“This will allow advisors to plan their work over their next eight weeks. It’s essential now that all advisors continue to engage with their ACRES clients and work to have the necessary scorecards completed as soon as possible.”
IFA rural development chair, Michael Biggins, has acknowledged the move: “An extension was needed. The scores awarded in year one of the scheme set the baseline for farmers to improve upon for the coming years. Rushed jobs would only have led to shortcomings for farmers down the line,” he said.
“While it is positive that planners have been facilitated, it is important that this extension does not result in yet another delay to the proposed scheme payment dates for 2023. The department has already proposed a delay in payments for vital schemes, such as ANC by one month until October 17, and BISS and CRISS by a week until October 24. These delays are likely to cause farmers short-term cashflow issues; any more delays cannot be tolerated.
"Environment scheme payments make up a significant portion of family-farm income each year. With farmers having already paid for ACRES plans to be completed, as well as additional charges for scoring, it is vital that these monies are received by farmers as soon as possible,” he said.