The Department of Agriculture gave a commitment to the IFA that TAMS II approvals for essential work will commence in early December.

Despite the TAMS II Young Farmer Capital Investment Scheme closing to applications six weeks ago, the Department has yet to issue approvals to farmers.

The situation is leading to significant anger among farmers many only have a short period of time to carry out works.

IFA says it has been critical of the slow pace of getting TAMS II approvals out, particularly to dairy farmers who have only a short window during which to complete work before cows calve next spring.

IFA says it will be monitoring this situation very closely over the coming weeks to ensure that approvals are issued so that work can commence under the grant aid scheme.

Meanwhile, according to the Minister for Agriculture, Simon Coveney, approvals for new farm building grants cannot be made by the Department of Agriculture on an individual basis.

Minister Coveney has said that that all applications received will be examined and approvals will commence when all of the required checks have been undertaken.

He said this is a complex process and as all applications for TAMS II must be made under a tranche-based approach, the Department is required to evaluate, rank and assess all applications received together.

Applications cannot be approved individually on a rolling basis, he said.