Minister Heydon reminds ACRES Co-operation farmers of closing date for ACRES Non-Productive Investments (NPIs) applications
- Foilsithe: 26 Meán Fómhair 2025
- An t-eolas is déanaí: 26 Meán Fómhair 2025
Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Martin Heydon TD, today reminded farmers in the Co-operation approach of the Agri-Climate Rural Environment Scheme (ACRES) that the deadline for the submission of applications for Non-Productive Investments (NPIs) this year is Friday, 17 October.
When issuing the reminder, the Minister said:
“While there are a number of weeks remaining within which applications may be submitted for NPIs, I want to ensure that all farmers in the ACRES Co-operation approach are aware of the closing date and to engage with their ACRES advisor in sufficient time if they wish to apply for NPIs this year. I want to remind them of the wide range of complementary environmental actions, available under the NPI element of the ACRES Co-operation approach, which can assist them to enhance the environmental standard of their land, which should positively impact their scores and, in turn, the level of their annual payment.”
Minister Heydon added:
“Applications, in the form of NPI Annual Work plans, are prepared and submitted by ACRES advisors on behalf of ACRES co-operation participants, so I encourage those farmers who are thinking about applying for NPIs to engage with their ACRES advisor to explore that option as soon as possible.”
Concluding his announcement, the Minister said:
“I understand that NPI applications have been submitted at a steady rate since the application window opened on 5 August 2025. I also understand that Department staff responded to a lot of queries about NPIs at the recent National Ploughing Championships. I therefore consider it timely to remind ACRES Co-operation farmers about the deadline for submitting an NPI application this year. The system for the submission of claims in respect of the implementation of approved NPIs under the previous two application windows is also open, with payments scheduled to commence next month.”
Notes
- The Agri-Climate Rural Environment Scheme (ACRES) is the agri-environment climate measure under Ireland’s CAP Strategic Plan for the period 2023-2027.
- The Scheme is jointly funded by the European Union and the national exchequer.
- There are two approaches within the Scheme:
- ACRES General, available nationally (outside of the high priority geographical area as defined for the ACRES Co-operation approach below), which offers a range of measures (both prescription and result-based); and
- ACRES Co-operation, available to farmers in defined high priority geographical areas. Map in Annex 1 of the ACRES Terms and Conditions for both Tranches shows the 8 ACRES Co-operation zones, with an ACRES Co-operation Project (CP) Team in place in each zone to assist the participants.
Non-Productive Investments in ACRES Co-operation approach
- Non-Productive Investments (NPIs) are actions that are available to participants in the Co-operation approach of ACRES to address environmental issues on the farm, directly contribute to environmental objectives or increase the farmers capacity to improve field scores through management.
- The list of NPIs, and associated Specifications, is available on the Department’s website at gov - Agri-Climate Rural Environment Scheme (ACRES) (www.gov.ie).
Application process
- A specific NPI application window opens each year at which time applications, in the form of NPI Annual Work plans, are prepared and submitted by ACRES advisors on behalf of their clients.
- The applications submitted are then referred to the ACRES Co-operation Project (CP) Team in the relevant ACRES Co-operation zone for environmental screening, with the outcome of that screening returned to the Department.
- Following certain validations of the applications by the Department, decision letters are issued, with a detailed NPI approval summary also subsequently sent to the participant to assist in the implementation of the approved NPIs.
- Participants may not implement any action/investment until such time as they have received approval.
Submitting a claim for the implementation of approved NPIs (applied for in 2023 or 2024)
- The opening of the NPI claims system (for the submission of claims in respect of the implementation of NPIs approved in December 2024 and April 2025) was announced by the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine on 15 July 2025.
- A video of an information webinar on the making of NPI claims is available on the Department’s website here.
- Payments in respect of NPIs are scheduled to commence in October 2025, following validation of the claims and outcome of inspections where selected.