The Agri-Climate Rural Environment Scheme (ACRES) is my Department’s flagship agri-environment scheme under the new CAP Strategic Plan 2023-2027. It consists of two streams - ACRES General and ACRES Cooperation Project (CP).
A maximum payment of €10,500 annually is available to ACRES CP participants (€7,311 for those in the General approach). Seven thousand euro is ring-fenced for results-based payments, with the additional €3,500 set aside for Non-Productive Investments and/or Landscape Actions. Therefore, a total of €52,500 is potentially payable to a participant in an ACRES Co-operation Project over the five years of the Scheme.
All participants in the Scheme undergo a suite of checks and validations, to ensure their continued eligibility for the Scheme and to receive payment. I intend to commence payments to participants who have passed these validations later this year, on a date that I will announce closer to the time.