The Irish Creamery Milk Suppliers’ Association (ICMSA) Farm Business Committee chair, Pat O’Brien, is calling on Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Charlie McConalogue, to introduce the “much anticipated” 60% slurry storage grant for farmers.
Under the government plan to retain the nitrates derogation, it was announced that permission was being sought from the European Commission for a 60% grant and separate ceiling of €90,000 for farmers for nutrient storage to be in place from January 2025.
A new and separate ‘exempted development’ threshold for ‘stand-alone’ nutrient storage is also to be provided for as part of a review of planning regulations.
ICMSA
Pat O’Brien said that the government needs to urgently implement these measure “as the fate of Ireland’s vital nitrates derogation post-2025 is to be determined this year”.
“Farmers are keen to invest in slurry storage as a notable step towards delivering on their obligations, adhering to the Nitrates Regulations, and improving water quality.
“But the unaccountable delays around the introduction of the 60% grant and often spurious objections being facilitated by the planning system – delays that add to the costs through construction inflation – mean that valuable time and funding is being lost.
“We need to see the planning exemption and the opening of the grant scheme announced immediately to ensure that the slurry storage is in place for winter 2025,” he said.
O’Brien said that it is important that the grant scheme should be available to all farmers with existing storage levels not being a pre-condition.
TAMS
The ICMSA committee chair said that approval of applications for this Targeted Agriculture Modernisation Schemes (TAMS 3) grant needed to be prioritised and delivered speedily following tranche closing dates.
“It is unacceptable to have farmers waiting months on end for not only planning permission, but also TAMS approval.
“TAMS reference costs should also be updated to reflect real increased costs of construction of these vital investments.
“ICMSA have consistently asked for the three major components of construction, namely, concrete, steel and timber to be costed on a six-month basis.
“There’s no point in offering grants that bear no relation to the actual costs involved in doing the work that the grants are aimed towards,” he said.
As reported by Agriland this week, the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (DAFM) recently issued an update on the opening of tranche 6 of TAMS 3.
In correspondence sent to agricultural advisors, the department stated that the opening date for tranche 6 has been updated to January 23, 2025.
DAFM explained that this is to facilitate development work on the 60% grant aid rate for nutrient storage investments.
It had been anticipated that applications would have been accepted by the department from this week.
The closing date of tranche 6 will take place on March 7, 2025, as had been previously announced.
Water quality
O’Brien added that farmers are playing their part in addressing water quality issues and are willing to implement fair and scientifically based measures.
“The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) water quality data published before Christmas showed that actions being carried out by farmers are showing improvements and this is important for securing the derogation into the future.
“Now is the time for government to get in behind that momentum and address both the planning exemption and the grant availability issues so we can make the further progress on water quality,” he said.