The Scheme of Installation Aid for Young Farmers was one of the sub-measures operated under the Operation Programme for Agriculture, Rural Development and Forestry 1994-99. The programme had an indicative budget of £17 million for the scheme and was launched in December 1994. It was expected that about 3,000 young farmers would participate. Due to the high level of demand the scheme was suspended with effect from 7 August 1997 in respect of new applications.
By 1 October 1997 a total of some 3,320 young farmers had been paid about £18.5 million under the scheme. In addition there are about 600 other applications being processed currently with a potential grant commitment of about £3.5 million.
As part of the Operational Programme the independent analysis and evaluation unit carried out a detailed evaluation of the scheme. They indicated that the scheme should be terminated as it was not meeting the main objective of encouraging the earlier transfer of farms.