731. Deputy Martin Kenny asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the number of farmers that are currently in the ACRES scheme; and the average payment per farmer for the years 2023-2025 [45135/26]

732. Deputy Martin Kenny asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the total annual spend to farmers in the ACRES scheme for the years 2023-2025 [45136/26]

I propose to take Questions Nos. 731 and 732 together.

The Agri-Climate Rural Environment Scheme, or ACRES, is the flagship environmental scheme provided under the 2023-2027 CAP Strategic Plan, with €1.5 billion in Exchequer and EU funding allocated over the course of the scheme.  There are currently 53,209 participants in ACRES.

In the time period from 2023 to 2025 €713,190,000 issued to participants in core scheme payments, that is excluding Non-Productive Investments and payments for participating in ACRES Training. The average core payment is €5,053.