The Irish Natura and Hill Farmers Association (INHFA) has called an urgent meeting with Minister for Agriculture Charlie McConalogue over delays to farmers' ACRES payments.

The INHFA has said that balancing ACRES payments for some of the 4,000 farmers who are still waiting for payment will now be delayed until 2025.

Earlier this year, farmers received an advance payment of €5,000, pending the finalisation of their payment score cards, which were expected to be released by October 2024.

"Many farmers have been left in the dark regarding their eligibility for a top-up or repayment, and ongoing delays in scorecard distribution have only heightened their frustrations.

"The Department has now indicated that many of those 4,000 farmers may not receive their payments until 2025, and no payments for 2024 will be issued until the 2023 issues are resolved," INHFA chair Pheilim Molloy has said.

This situation, Molloy stated, is unacceptable and undermines the financial stability of farmers who rely on these payments.

In addition to the failures around the balancing payments, the INHFA have also been contacted by farmers that haven't yet received any ACRES payment, he said.

"The farmers in this position are not only left in limbo without payment they also face the possibility of a heavy tax pay back in 2025 where they could end up with three ACRES payments," he said.

The INHFA is urgently seeking a meeting with the Minister for Agriculture and Department officials to address this crisis and demand immediate action to rectify these delays.

"We cannot allow farmers to bear the brunt of Department administrative failures. The livelihoods of our farmers depend on timely payments, and it is totally unacceptable they face this financial uncertainty," added Molloy.