To date, over 4,950 Targeted Agricultural Modernisation Scheme (TAMS II) approvals have issued to farmers under the scheme.
Figures from the Department show that over 500 payment claims have been received, which represents 10% of the number of applications approved.
Another 550 TAMS II claims are at a draft stage on the online application system, according to the Department.
The TAMS II suite of six measures has now been in place since mid 2015 and the Department has said it is very pleased with the level of applications received.
The budget is in place to pay for these investments and the online system is also in place to ensure that payment claims received are examined and paid as quickly as possible, according to the Department.
The Department is now urging all farmers who have completed their approved TAMS II investments to submit their claim for payments to the online system immediately to allow for payment to issue.
The online claim system has been open since July 2016 and the Department is urging all farmers who have completed their investments under TAMS II to submit their claim for payment to the system as soon as they are in a position to do so to.
Payment claims submitted in line with all the requirements of the scheme terms and conditions, including those related to tax clearance and the completion, where required, of a farm safety course will be processed for payment as soon as possible, the Department has said.
Future TAMS II approvals could be at risk unless farmers submit claims
Last month, Secretary General at the Department of Agriculture, Aidan O’Driscol said that future approvals under the TAMS II suite of measures could be at risk of being blocked unless farmers start submitting their claims online.
Figures from the Department show that while the number of approvals increases, there is not the same increase in payment claims going into the Department.
He said that the Department has texted farmers who have not submitted claims to ask are they going ahead with their investment.
O’Driscoll has said that there is a problem here; the Department issues all of these approvals and then it’s ‘debt’ or outstanding money commitment mounts and mounts into tens of millions.
This is not something that can be done indefinitely, the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform will not allow it, he said.