Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 30 September 2021
387. Deputy Dara Calleary asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine if he will consider the inclusion of drone purchase in the TAMS programme to assist eligible farmers in herd and flock management, in land management and in farm security; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [47352/21]
View answerThere are a wide variety of items available under the suite of seven measures under TAMS. However, funding for drone purchase to assist eligible farmers in herd and flock management, in land management and in farm security is not included. To date, total expenditure under the seven measures of the TAMS, including transitional expenditure, has reached in excess of €311m with commitments of an additional €145m made to scheme participants who have yet to draw down those grants.
Some 44,273 applications have been approved under the scheme. All outstanding approvals issued represent potential outstanding liabilities for the Department and we must have a budget in place to pay these claims. As a result, it is not possible to consider adding additional items such as drones to the comprehensive list of investment items already available under TAMS.
Work on the preparation of the overall draft CAP Strategic Plan 2023-2027 (CSP) has intensified in the Department. Development of the plan involves a number of stages, including SWOT analysis, needs assessment, intervention design, financial allocations, target setting (including monitoring) and governance systems. The draft CSP is also subject to an ex-ante evaluation, Strategic Environmental Assessment and Appropriate Assessment including a public consultation on the draft CSP and draft Environmental Report.
The Department has recently completed a five-week public consultation on the proposed draft interventions for the CSP 2023-2027 with over 1,000 responses received. Department officials are currently considering these proposals as the CSP is developed. I am currently consulting with farmers and other stakeholders on the content of the CSP at a series of mart meetings. I will continue to engage with farmers and all stakeholders as we develop our CAP Strategic Plan 2023-2027.
