Latest ACRES Updates

21 March 2025

The following is an update from the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine on the making of payments under ACRES.

A total of just under €441 million has been paid to date (21 March 2025) to ACRES participants, of which €193.5 million is in respect of participation in the Scheme in 2024, while €247.4 million relates to participation in 2023. Further details of the amounts and numbers paid are outlined below.

Advance payments in respect of 2024

• Advance payments in respect of participation in the Scheme in 2024 were made this week to 1,117 participants, with those payments amounting to €4,626,204.69.

• This pay run brings the total of 2024 Advance payments to €193.5 million paid to 44,939 farmers in respect of their participation in ACRES in 2024. This number of recipients represents 83% of all ACRES participants.

• Of the above 44,939 farmers who have received their 2024 Advance payments, 37,006 are Tranche 1 participants and 7,933 are Tranche 2 participants.

• Advance payments in respect of scheme participation in 2024 have still to be made to 9,316 ACRES participants across tranches 1 and 2.

• Of these 9,316 participants, 2,302 are also awaiting their balancing payment in respect of 2023, as that must be paid before the 2024 Advance payment may be made to them.

• Advance Payments in respect of 2024 will continue to be made every 10 days to ensure timely payments to the remaining participants once their contracts are cleared for payment.

• Balancing payments, in respect of participation in the Scheme in 2023, were made on 14 March 2025 to 449 participants, with those payments amounting to €338,208.46.

• This brought the total paid in respect of participation in ACRES in 2023 to €247.4 million, to 42,631 participants (25,537 General and 17,094 Co-operation), or 95% of all ACRES

Tranche 1 participants.

• Payments to Tranche 1 participants were made throughout 2024 and recommenced in January 2025.

• Since re-commencing payments in January 2025, €487,000 had been paid in balancing payments to 556 participants. Issued by the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine 21 March 2025

• A total of 2,302 farmers have yet to receive their final payments for 2023. Of these, 2,008 have already received an interim payment of either €4,000 or €5,000, respectively. In many instances this will cover the entire payment due.

• Processing of all of these cases continues, and payments will be made every 3 weeks to those participants whose contracts have been cleared during that period.

• The issues which are impacting on the making of payments in respect of each year are primarily:

o Contract and ownership / partnership issues,

o Issues with scorecards (incorrect score, scorecards not submitted, alignment of scorecards with BISS data,

o Alignment of ACRES data with latest BISS information.

• The Department is actively resolving the remaining issues through, for example, the development of the required IT functionality and the investigation of issues associated with specific contracts.

• The non-submission to date by participants, or by their ACRES advisors on their behalf, of certain returns has also impacted on the making of advance payments to them in respect of 2024.

• The issue of advance payments in respect of 2024 commenced in November 2024, in addition to the continued issue of the balancing payments in respect of 2023. Details of the pay runs since November 2024 are outlined in the table below.

• The Department is continuing to progress the contracts awaiting final payment in respect of 2023 and/or advance payment in respect of 2024, with the target of having as many as possible cleared by May 2025, with the most complex cases to be finalised in June 2025 at the latest.

• Balancing payments in respect of participation in ACRES in 2024 are scheduled to commence in the second half of May 2025.

Find details of payments made in respect of ACRES since November 2024. (PDF, from page 3)