Rural Development Council Report July 2025

Market Report 

ACRES

• A total of €512.2 million has been paid (up to 30 June 2025) to ACRES participants.
• Advance payments in respect of 2024 totalling €225.27 million have now been paid to 52,394 farmers- 97% of all ACRES participants. 
• Of the above, 36,361 are Tranche 1 participants and 7,461 are Tranche 2 participants. 
• Advance payments in respect of scheme participation in 2024 have still to be made to 1,586. Of these, 514 are also awaiting their balancing payment in respect of 2023, as that must be paid before the 2024 Advance payment may be made to them. 
• 2024 Balancing payments commenced on 15^th May 2025. To date, €38.3 million has been paid to 50,617 participants-94% of all applicants. 
• Both advance and balancing payments continue to be made on a weekly basis. 
• Payments in respect of 2023, totalling €248.6 million, have been paid to 44,186 participants or     99 % of all ACRES Tranche 1 participants.
• A total of 514 farmers have yet to receive their final payments for 2023. Of these, 236 have already received an interim payment of either €4,000 or €5,000, respectively.  Processing of all of these cases continues. 
• Some of the issues behind delayed payment include: Contract and ownership / partnership issues; Issues with scorecards (incorrect score, scorecards not submitted, alignment of scorecards with BISS data); Non-alignment of ACRES data with latest BISS information; DAFM IT issues; non-submission of LESS/Soil Sample; Rare Breed certification; non-completion of mandatory education requirements. 
• ACRES Review report being drafted, based on feedback & consultations with farm bodies end 2024.

TAMS

• Tranche 9 is now open for applications and will close Sept 6^th. Tranche 8 closed on 6^th June, with over 5,000 applications received.
• Minister Heydon announced 100% approval for eligible applications under Tranches 6,7,8. Ranking & Selection may apply for Tranche 9 and going forward.
• 29,983 approvals have issued under TAMS 3, with 10,658 applications submitting claims for payment. 
• To date, €73.3m has been paid out to c.8,552 applicants (c.€2m/week). 
• A revision of the TAMS reference costs is ongoing, aiming to be in place in Q4. Planning permission exemptions will not be available before Tranche 10. 
• For those ready to start projects but are awaiting final approval letter, DAFM can prioritise applications at local level. Will be assessed on case-by-case basis.
• Farmers encouraged to engage promptly with DAFM re application queries/notifications. Extension to return deadline possible, on case-by-case basis, on request. 

Direct Payments

Applications for BISS and other area related payments closed on 15th May. 

123,705 applications were received (incl. 2,792 temporary ref numbers), marginally below 2024 levels (n=124,274). 

• BISS & CRISS: C.120k [c.120k in 2024]
  • Eco: 119,676 [120,461 in 2024]
  • ANC: 116,444 [116,892 in 2024]
  • 33,951 applications received to transfer payment entitlements [+600 vs. 2024]. 
  • Formal approval from Commission re GAEC-2 implementation was received on April 30th. 
  • DAFM informed all impacted farmers in writing (c.42,000) identifying relevant parcels and measures involved.
  • Appeals mechanism (likely to involve recent soil sample; geo-tagged photo; planner report and signed declaration) will be available to those that wish to challenge GAEC-2 status of individual land parcels, but not yet finalised.
  • GAEC-2 measures relate to drainage (can repaid & maintain existing drains; new drains subject to existing planning legislation) & ploughing (ban deep ploughing (i.e. >30cm), but ploughing up to 30cm can be permitted annually on arable parcels and 1 year in 4 for grassland). 
  • In Simplification Package, flexibility to support compliance through eco-scheme / agri-environment scheme proposed.

Activity since last National Council

• Meeting of Rural Development Committee in the Irish Farm Centre
• Meeting of Rural Development Management Committee online to discuss Budget 2026 Proposals & CAP Proposals 
• Attended Farmers Charter of Rights Monitoring Committee meeting in Portlaoise
• Developed IFAs CAP Principles document 
• Submitted MFF Proposals/questionnaires
• Attended IFA/ICOS joint demonstration re MFF/CAP proposals
• Attended IFA CAP 2030 & Beyond event in the Killashee Hotel, Kildare
• Attended MyAgfood.ie redevelopment working group
• Accompanied former DG Agri Official Tassos Haniotis to Teagasc Oakpark to meet with Teagasc officials
• Attended monthly POCC meeting online
• Participated in COPA CAP Working groups and Civil Dialogue Group meetings online
• Attended Government statements on CAP in Leinster House
• Contributed key priorities of Committee to IFA’s Pre-Budget Submission 2026
• Updated a number of County Executives on the Committees activity including Westmeath, Kerry, Clare, Louth, Laois, West Cork, and Roscommon. 
• Met with Minister Heydon & John Cummins re Planning Exemption for nutrient storage
• Attended AKIS meetings online
• Attended CSP Stakeholder Forum
• Submission re Rural Development Programme Annual Implementation Report 2024

Any EU/COPA developments

• IFA continues to participate on a number of COPA groups, relating to CAP, Direct Payments and Rural Development matters. 
• CAP Simplification Package Proposals were announced on May 14th. Some [inspections; derogations; supports for young farmers; and extending financial supports to support regulatory compliance; investment; working capital; and mitigate adverse climatic events or other catastrophic events (such as animal health diseases or plant pests)] may hold potential in Irish context. IFA provided feedback to Copa-Cogeca re measures to support further CAP Simplification package.
• IFA has participated in working party meetings and CDG’s focusing on the future proposals of the next CAP post 2027.  

Upcoming issues

• COPA WP on Future CAP online on 11^th July
• MFF/CAP Proposals expected to be announced on 16^th July
• The Rural Development Committee will meet on 10^th September in the Farm Centre
• The next Farmers Charter of Rights Monitoring Committee meeting will take place on 11^th October
• Ongoing assistance with scheme queries and farm payment/appeal issues