Danny Healy-Rae (Kerry, Independent)
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1286.To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine for an update on ACRES overpayments (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter.[35486/24]

Charlie McConalogue (Donegal, Fianna Fail)
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Earlier this year a decision was made to issue interim payments to ACRES participants who had not received their 2023 advance payment. I announced that this payment would amount to €4,000 for ACRES General Participants and €5,000 for ACRES Cooperative Participants, and that it would be offset against the final ACRES payment for 2023.

Accordingly, my Department wrote to all recipients of the interim payment at the end of February/early March 2024 to advise that their final ACRES Year 1 payments would be based on the ACRES actions approved in their contract, and that an overpayment would arise if the final amount calculated came to less than the amount of their interim payment.

The recent letters have outlined the options available to each participant who has received an overpayment. My Department has offered a flexible approach in the collection of these overpayments, and encourages any farmer not in a position to make the full refund, or to have it recovered from the next DAFM payment (for example the ANC payment), to engage with the Department in relation to alternative payment arrangements, which include the possibility to recover the outstanding amount from the next ACRES payment.

Seán Canney (Galway East, Independent)
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1287.To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine if a full investigation will be conducted into the administration of the basic income support for sustainability scheme, eco and organic payments for 2023 applications for a farmer (details supplied), as the quality of the administration of these multiple schemes appears to have been very poor; his views on the multiple difficulties and delays relating to administration on the part of his Department; if the processing of their application is in contravention of the farmers' charter of rights; and if he will make a statement on the matter.[35526/24]

Charlie McConalogue (Donegal, Fianna Fail)
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A full review of the processing of the Basic Income Support for Sustainability Scheme (BISS), ECO Scheme and Organic Scheme payments, is being carried out with regard to the above named persons 2023 scheme applications. Work has already commenced on this and staff of my Department will contact the applicant to advise them of the outcome of this review in due course. Once the review is complete and the results communicated to the applicant, where necessary, supplementary payments will be raised to ensure all payments have been made in full. Staff in my Department will work to resolve this case as soon as possible.