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TAMS Eligibility

Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 12 July 2018

Thursday, 12 July 2018

Ceisteanna (17)

Jackie Cahill

Ceist:

17. Deputy Jackie Cahill asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine if the rules of TAMS will be adjusted to include underpasses in view of the fact that it is a health and safety issue for farmers; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [30312/18]

Amharc ar fhreagra

Freagraí scríofa

During 2015, a suite of six measures were announced under TAMS II. These measures were launched under the Rural Development Programme 2014-2020 and are co-funded under the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development (EAFRD). The measures provide grants for capital investment in physical assets to assist the Irish agriculture sector to respond to a range of policy challenges. The six measures initially launched were:

- The Young Farmers Capital Investment Scheme,

- The Dairy Equipment Scheme,

- The Organic Capital Investment Scheme,

- The Animal Welfare, Safety and Nutrient Storage Scheme,

- The Low Emission Slurry Spreading Scheme, and the

- Pig and Poultry Investment Scheme

- The Tillage Capital investment Scheme was added to the list of measures in 2017 (March 2017).

The TAMS II Scheme has been very successful to date in terms of uptake with the number of approvals that have issued reaching 15,000. All of these approvals represent committed expenditure and until such time as these approvals are acted upon or expire the budget for TAMS must include provision for the potential expenditure involved.

Of the applications approved just over 5,000 payment claims have been received to date. Payment claims submitted continue to be paid on an on-going basis. All participants who have completed approved works have been urged to submit their payment claims immediately to facilitate early payment. Until the approvals issued to applicants are acted upon and payment claims are submitted or expire without a payment claim being submitted the budgetary position is that additional investment items cannot be accommodated within the RDP budget.

There are a huge variety of items available under the suite of seven TAMS measures. Cattle underpasses are expensive, relative to other capital investments under the scheme, and any request for new investments can only be considered in light of the overall scheme budget available. I have no plans to introduce this measure at this time.

I would point out that payments under TMAS II have now reached €63.9m. Payments are currently issuing at a rate of over €1.1m per week and I would encourage all participants who have completed approved works to submit their payment claims as soon as they are in a position to do so.

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