THE ‘big issue’ with West of Ireland farmers – highlighted at three regional IFA meetings in Galway last week – continues to be the new ACRES environmental scheme.

Farmers have expressed concerns that the scheme as ‘unwieldy, complicated and off-putting’ for the vast majority of potential applicants across the region.

This week, Connacht IFA Chair, Pat Murphy, told the Farming Tribune that the Government still had time to try and ‘do something’ with the scheme before it slipped into the ‘fiasco category’.

“We’ve had our views known to the Minister for Agriculture, Charlie McConalogue, and while he seems to have agreed to a few small changes, major alterations need to be made or this scheme will achieve very few of its aims.

“If the political will is there, then changes can be made to make this scheme a lot more accessible for many farmers who are genuinely very interested in joining it,” said Pat Murphy.

He said that the IFA had pressed for the introduction of a REPS type environmental scheme but what had emerged was ‘anything but that’.

For more, read this week’s Connacht Tribune.

Connacht Tribune Digital Edition App

Download the Connacht Tribune Digital Edition App to access to Galway’s best-selling newspaper.

Click HERE to download it for iPhone and iPad from Apple’s App Store, or HERE to get the Android Version from Google Play.

Or purchase the Digital Edition for PC, Mac or Laptop from Pagesuite  HERE.

Get the Connacht Tribune Live app
The Connacht Tribune Live app is the home of everything that is happening in Galway City and county. It’s completely FREE and features all the latest news, sport and information on what’s on in your area. Click HERE to download it for iPhone and iPad from Apple’s App Store, or HERE to get the Android Version from Google Play.