The implementation of the Agri-Climate Rural Environment Scheme (ACRES), has been described by the IFA as “nothing short of a mess”.

The farm organisation said in its European election manifesto that farmers should have the opportunity “to fully recoup available funds as soon as possible” through non-productive investments and landscape actions. These should be paid in advance, the IFA said, “to avoid further financial burdens on farmers following delayed/no payments in 2023”.

In addition, the manifesto added that all farmers should be accommodated by an agri-environmental scheme.

The number of Irish farmers participating in agri-environmental schemes is two and a half times above the EU average, figures included in the manifesto show.

Some 33% of Ireland’s land is farmed under agri-environmental measures, compared with an EU average of 13%.

Irish farmers own and manage over half the national forest and account for 80% of new tree planting.

Ireland has the third largest hedgerow area in the EU, some 700,000km.