Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 20 April 2023
134. Deputy James O'Connor asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine if he has considered to include multiple robotic milking units within the TAMS grants as the current scheme only allows for one robotic milking unit; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [18132/23]
View answerThrough TAMS 3, I believe we have delivered a hugely exciting scheme that will deliver for farmers, for the entire agrifood sector and the wider rural economy over the next number of years. I have secured a budget of €370m for TAMS between 2023 and 2027 with a strong focus on supporting this as well as subsequent generations of farmers.
There are, as the Deputy will be aware, exciting new developments for dairy farmers including higher grant aids of solar panels as well as a range of labour saving items. There are approximately 100 new investment items available to farm families compared to TAMS II. There are now in the region of 300 investment items in TAMS 3.
On the dairy sector, the list of potential investments is larger than ever before. In addition to the investments being carried over from TAMS II there is a wide range of additional investments being introduced for farmers, including farm roadways, bovine fencing, health and fertility monitoring systems, automatic drafting systems, public road underpasses and milk recording systems.
When a farmer is planning to update their dairy system, investment in the milking machine is only a portion of the required investment. It is important that dairy farmers also invest in animal housing, slurry storage, fodder storage and making their holding more accessible. To this end, the TAMS schemes are designed to encourage farmers to invest in these animal welfare and environmentally beneficial investments before investing in additional milking equipment. It is for this reason that there are limits on robotic milkers where farmers have previously benefited from this under the TAMS scheme before.
Dairy farmers are also well catered for with additional separate investment ceilings for LESS at €40,000 and solar at €90,000 which are particular Government priorities to address ammonia emissions and renewable energy generation respectively. Additionally, it is important to recognise that young farmers also benefit from grant support at 60% rather than the standard 40%.
In summary, I am anxious to ensure that TAMS 3 is better aligned with Government priorities of delivering environmental public good outputs and is consistent with other policies that are trying to improve the sustainability of our dairy herd such as changes in Nitrates regulations. I am satisfied that this has been achieved in the new scheme design.
