There has been a delay in the delivery of accelerated capital allowances for farm-safety equipment, but the application process is due to open in the coming weeks and applications can be backdated to the start of this year.
In November 2020, Minister for Finance, Paschal Donohoe, brought forward a change to the capital allowance treatment of certain farm safety equipment, and adaptive equipment for farmers with disabilities.
As the opening of the application process for these allowances awaits approval, Minister of State with responsibility for Farm Safety, Martin Heydon, told Agriland that he expects this to happen within the next few weeks.
And he has confirmed that applications dating from January 2021 – the date on which the three-year scheme went live – will be accepted.
An annual total equipment cost of €5m per annum (excluding VAT) will apply and the scheme will be administered by the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (DAFM) and Revenue.
Before January 2021, capital allowances were available at 12.5% per annum over eight years for agricultural equipment, generally. This new scheme will allow for accelerated capital allowances of 50% per annum over three years for certain eligible equipment.
Minister Heydon explained:
“There has been a delay and that has come as a result of signing off some of the technical detail relating to the application.
“We are just waiting for approval from the attorney general for the application process to open for people to apply for it, but the scheme itself is live from January 1 and if someone has made an investment since that date, they will be covered and will still be able to apply.”
Minister Heydon said he had hoped it would have opened much sooner, adding that it is “frustratingly slow”. But he said there were some details that needed to be ironed out so that there would be no “hidden surprises” in the application process for farmers.
“I understand that Revenue had been reviewing it and have signed off on it, and it is currently with the attorney general now for final sign off.”
“This is the first year that we have introduced this and the big challenge for me, as the first farm-safety minister, was to get this accelerated capital allowance established. I hope, in time, if we get good usage from farmers for it, that it will always be there.”
Range of farm safety initiatives
This is one of a range of initiatives introduced by the farm safety minister since his appointment last year.
And with farm fatalities still “unacceptably high” – 20 in 2020 – he said he is on a mission to effect change.
One approach to achieving this is by supporting locally led initiatives through the European Innovation Partnerships (EIP) fund.
“I secured €1m in the budget under the EIPs, which will fund innovative farm health, safety and wellbeing projects. The idea is to promote locally led ideas and initiatives.
“Normally the EIPs attract a small number of applications but this call received 30 applications. Of these, 12 projects, looking at different approaches to farm safety, will be piloted over the next year.”
Minster Heydon said there will be a particular focus on projects with scalability that can be rolled out nationally.
‘On Feirm Ground’
On Feirm Ground is an initiative that will see 800 farm advisers trained to engage with and support farmers on mental health issues.
Commissioned by the DAFM, the Department of Health and the Health Service Executive, it will be led by the Men’s Development Network, as part of Engage, the national men’s training programme.
“This will equip farm advisers, who very often are trusted people in a farmer’s life, with a toolkit of supports in relation to physical and psychological wellbeing,” said Minister Heydon.
“This will help advisers who may identify farmers who are in distress or farmers with mental-health issues.
This initiative has been on hold due to Covid-19 but it is hoped that training will commence shortly.
“Social isolation has been a big concern, particularly over the last year, and when I talk about farm safety, I am talking about health and wellbeing too because if you are not well in yourself, then you can’t keep your farm safe,” the minister said.