Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 3 October 2017
47. Deputy Éamon Ó Cuív asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the allocation in the rural development plan for the TAMS scheme 2014-2020; the amount of funds approved to date for projects since its inception; the payments made to date; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [41230/17]
Amharc ar fhreagraUnder the TAMS II scheme, support is provided under a suite of seven measures:
- Young Farmers Capital Investment Scheme;
- Dairy Equipment Scheme;
- Organic Capital Investment Scheme;
- Animal Welfare, Safety and Nutrient Storage Scheme;
- Low Emission Slurry Spreading;
- Pig and Poultry Investment Scheme;
- Tillage Capital Investment Scheme.
A wide range of investment items are available under each of these measures to help Irish farmers to improve their farms.
The scheme is co-funded by the National Exchequer and the EU's European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development under Ireland's Rural Development Programme. The total allocation for the TAMS II Scheme in the 2014-2020 Rural Development Plan is €395 million.
The online payment claim system for TAMS II opened in July 2016. Payment claims for approved investments continue to be submitted to this system and processed for payment. These claims were received and processed at an average rate of €1 million per week in the past few weeks following the busy construction period over the summer months.
To date 11,400 approvals have issued since the Schemes were launched in 2015 with an estimated commitment value of €172 million. Payments amounting to over €23.7 million have issued in respect of 1,682 payment claims received from the approved applicants. The total number of payment claims received to date is over 2,300. This means that there are 9,000 approvals out there with farmers under this scheme where payment applications have not been received by my Department. It is only when these applications are received that we can make payments. I would strongly urge all approved participants in the Scheme who have completed their approved works to submit their payment claims to the online system so that payments can issue without delay.
