A local TD has criticised the reported delay in issuing payments to farmers who have signed up to be part of the Agri-Climate Rural Environment Scheme (ACRES).
Sinn Féin’s Natasha Newsome Drennan says it could create a “breakdown of trust” and claimed over 450 farmers in Carlow and Kilkenny alone will face cashflow issues this farming season, 50 of whom are waiting for payments from 2023.
Deputy Newsome Drennan notes it’s not good enough telling KCLR News; “It’s basically do we feed the animals or do we feed ourselves; there was a lot of trust put into this, to the ACRES scheme, you know let’s not forget that there was 260million allocated for this ACRES scheme, I have had farmers emailing me, ringing me, they have people on their backs, they have bills that they have to pay”.
Meanwhile Kilkenny County IFA Chair Brendan Hickey said that farmers are more than willing to work towards environmental goals.
He says; “There’s a misconception out there that farmers aren’t interested in the environment and all that like you know we as farmers we’re custodians of the land, there has been three or four different environmental schemes brought in here over the last twenty years and every single one of them have been oversubscribed by farmers, farmers are more than willing to take on these measures and it’s, as I say, a lot of the measures incur a cost at farm level and when you spend that money and the payment isn’t coming it’s very, very frustrating”.
