Demand that ACRES grant be disregarded from SUSI means test
Mayo TD Paul Lawless has demanded an end to means-testing, warning that delays in payments under the Agri-Culture Rural Environment Scheme (ACRES) could jeopardise access to the Student Universal Support Ireland (SUSI) educational grant for farming families.
ACRES was launched to incentivise farmers to focus on improving biodiversity on their land. The scheme is a part of the EU’s Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) Strategic Plan.
ACRES has funding of €1.5b, and since its introduction in 2023, over 50,000 farmers have signed up to the scheme.
The Department of Agriculture is currently facing delays in issuing payments to farmers, citing IT failures, a lack of staffing within the department, and a significant demand for the scheme as reasons for the delays.
Deputy Lawless is a member of the Joint Committee on Agriculture and Food and, after a recent meeting, expressed “deep dismay” at the ongoing delays farmers have faced in receiving payments, some of which date back to 2023.
He has stated that many farmers will now be in receipt of two years’ worth of ACRES income in a single calendar year. While this sounds positive, the Aontú TD sees it as anything but.
Deputy Lawless has highlighted that the lump-sum payment could cause some families to exceed the threshold for means-tested grants, particularly the SUSI grant.
“Imagine doing everything right, protecting the environment, following the rules, and then being told your child can’t get a college grant because the department couldn’t get its act together. That’s not just unfair. It’s outrageous,” Deputy Lawless said.
The Joint Committee has previously proposed to write to SUSI to ask for flexibility when assessing grant applications from children of farming families affected by the delay.
Deputy Lawless has taken this proposal one step further and is calling for the ACRES income to be entirely disregarded from SUSI means test.
Additionally, he has called for a comprehensive review of the department’s payment schemes and greater transparency in the way they communicate with farmers.
“ACRES is an environmental scheme. It’s not a profit-making venture, it’s a public good. Penalising families for participating in it is like taxing people for planting trees,” said Deputy Lawless, “We need more than apologies. We need accountability. Farmers deserve to know what went wrong, and how it’s being fixed, not just vague reassurances and delayed cheques.”
This article has been funded by the Local Democracy Reporting Scheme.