Environmental Scheme Approaches Scorecard Deadline

Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Martin Heydon TD, has urged participants in the Agri-Climate Rural Environment Scheme (ACRES) and their advisors to ensure all required scorecards are submitted ahead of the 31 August 2025 deadline.

Speaking today, Minister Heydon highlighted the importance of results-based payments within the scheme. He said that assessments conducted on the land at least three times over the five-year contract period mean improvements in environmental standards are reflected in the payments farmers receive.

“ACRES advisors play a key role in this element of the scheme as they are the people who walk the land, carry out the assessments and score it using standardised scorecards,” he said. “To put this into context, some 125,000 scorecards were issued to ACRES advisors in the first week of June for completion and return by 31 August.”

The Minister noted that while the deadline is less than two weeks away, completed scorecards are being submitted steadily, with just over a quarter still to be returned. He also reminded advisors of a report function in the Department’s GLAM system to check the status of scorecards and provided guidance on addressing any issues during scoring.

“I consider it timely to flag the approaching deadline, as the return of all completed scorecards is necessary for the processing of payments to the farmers concerned,” Minister Heydon added.

About ACRES

The Agri-Climate Rural Environment Scheme is Ireland’s agri-environment climate measure under the CAP Strategic Plan 2023–2027. The scheme is jointly funded by the European Union and the National Exchequer.

ACRES has two approaches: the General approach, which offers a range of actions including four results-based actions, and the Co-operation approach, available in eight high-priority areas. The Co-operation approach provides a whole-farm, results-based model with the option of additional general actions, supported by dedicated Co-operation Project teams.

An innovative feature of ACRES is its focus on results-based payments and collective actions, rewarding farmers for environmental improvements at farm level. The scheme was informed by lessons from previous initiatives including GLAS, the REAP pilot project, and European Innovation Partnerships.

An information leaflet on results-based payments in ACRES is available on the Department’s website.