Erris councillor wants an 80% advance on ACRES payments to farmers
Cllr Sean Carey requested an 80% advance on ACRES payments.
A councillor has asked Mayo County Council to write to the Minister for Agriculture Charlie McConalogue and request an 80% advance in Agri-Climate Rural Environment Scheme (ACRES) payments to farmers.
In submitting the motion at last week's local authority meeting, Cllr Sean Carey said the money should be paid to all the participating farmers in each of the co-operation zones.
Cllr Carey also insisted the farming community is doing its best every day in terms of making efforts to address climate change.
"They are reducing their inputs, they are putting out lime and they are doing whatever they can to reduce the emissions."
Two days after the council meeting, Minister McConalogue announced that an interim payment for ACRES participants will be paid at the rate of €4,000 for those in ACRES general and €5,000 for those in ACRES Co-operation Project.
Meanwhile, Cllr Carey said it is difficult to pursue climate-friendly initiatives in an isolated region such as Erris and more assistance should be provided.
"People have electric cars but there are not many points for charging those," he said. "We have people coming in from all over the country and they do not have any proper charging services for their cars."
Cllr Carey said if there is a serious push to make the region more environmentally friendly they will need an adequate service
"That is the first thing that should happen," he added.
Cllr Carey also said he was also very disappointed that Belmullet received no Active Travel funding.
