Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 21 October 2021
51. Deputy Alan Dillon asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the additional details on the €80 million for farm investments through TAMS announced as part of Budget 2022; the specific supports for solar energy installation; the other supports that may be offered; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [51684/21]
View answerThere are a wide variety of items available under the suite of seven measures under TAMS. The allocation of €80million in Budget 2022 has secured the continuation of the TAMS scheme in its current format for 2022.
Solar energy for on-farm use is grant aided under the Animal Welfare Nutrient Storage and Safety Scheme, Young Farmers Captial Investment Scheme, the Organic Capital Investment Scheme and the Pig and Poultry Scheme measures under TAMS. The solar PV systems grant aided under TAMS includes Solar PV Panels and Solar PV Rechargeable Batteries. I am determined that farmers will be at the heart of our policies on renewable energy and want to them to be able to examine all the opportunities for diversifying their income that this presents. Full details of all investment items are available on the Department's website.
I am pleased that TAMS has proved to be a very successful scheme in terms of uptake. To date, total expenditure under the seven measures of TAMS, including transitional expenditure, has exceeded €313million with commitments of an additional €145million made to scheme participants who have yet to draw down those grants.
Some 44,780 applications have been approved under the scheme, including 172 applications for solar investments to date. I would like to encourage any farmer with a payment claim outstanding for TAMS to submit them on the online system as soon as possible to allow for the early issue of payments. This allocation of €80m for next year will help us meet our commitments and allow for new commitments to farmers who wish to invest in their farms for the future.
