Over 15,500 farmers are still awaiting ACRES payments, Minister for Agriculture Martin Heydon has admitted.

This represents almost 30% of the 55,000 farmers who have joined the environmental scheme.

A total of 13,051 farmers are waiting on ACRES payments for 2024, while a further 2,764 have not been paid balancing payments for 2023.

Minister Heydon claimed outstanding issues that will have to be resolved by participants themselves were to blame for some of the delayed payments.

However, he conceded that issues with the Department’s IT system were also a factor.

The primary reasons for payment delays included changes of ownership/transfers of contracts, queried or unsubmitted scorecards, outstanding queries on the relevant Basic Income Support for Sustainability (BISS) applications and reconciliation of mapping-related discrepancies, Minister Heydon said in reply to a Dáil question from Wicklow TD Jennifer Whitmore.

“I can assure you that everything is being done to pay, as soon as possible, all ACRES participants who clear pre-payment checks,” he added.

Following a meeting with Minister Heydon this week, the IFA called for one-to-one clinics to be put in place so that the reasons for payment delays could be identified and sorted out in a streamlined fashion.

There was growing frustration at the slow pace of payments for this cohort of farmers, said IFA rural development chair John Curran. Similar sentiments were expressed by INHFA leader Vincent Roddy.

Roddy said farmers “were fed up” with excuses relating to the Department’s IT system.

If the IT system cannot verify and process the applications, then this work should be done manually, Roddy maintained.