Minister asked to defend ‘real progress’ remark while thousands await ACRES

IFA rural development chair John Curran said farmers are being forced to sell breeding stock just to keep the show on the road

The IFA president questioned how the minister could say ‘real progress’ was being made when there are still thousands awaiting ACRES payments.

The number of farmers awaiting payments under the ACRES agri-environmental scheme is now less than 10,000, a drop of 2,500 over the past two months.

Agricultural minister Martin Heydon revealed the latest figure during a Seanad debate on Ireland’s five-year €9.8bn Irish CAP strategic plan, with €6bn of it targeted at supporting farm incomes.