New administrative and information technology (IT) support systems are part of the reason for the delay in approvals of applications under the Targeted Agricultural Modernisation Scheme (TAMS).
These new systems being implemented in the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine have already been blamed for the delay in payment dates under the Basic Income Support for Sustainability (BISS) and the Areas of Natural Constraint (ANC) Scheme.
However, Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine Charlie McConalogue has said that these new systems are also partially responsible for the delay in application approvals under TAMS.
In response to a recent parliamentary question from independent Roscommon-Galway TD Michael Fitzmaurice, Minister McConalogue said that both the new systems and the number of applications are causing the hold up.
“There a number of factors affecting the speed of application processing, including the very high volume of applications received and that fact that we are implementing new administrative and IT support systems,” the minister said.
He added: “Applications received across all of the TAMS measures are currently being processed. Once that initial processing is completed, all applications will be subject to a ranking and selection process, which is a regulatory requirement for all applications.”
The minister explained that all eligible applications will then proceed to further detailed processing, with approvals issuing to successful applications once that process is complete.
Minister McConalogue said that the scheme has seen an “unprecedented” level of applications in tranche 1, which has seen four times the average application figure for tranches in the previous TAMS from 2014 to 2022.
On September 8,the minister announced that all eligible applications under tranche 1 of the new scheme are set to receive approval.
8,241 applications were submitted under tranche 1 of TAMS 3, which includes 10 different schemes.
The minister also said that issuance of approvals will prioritise the solar capital investment scheme, one of the 10 TAMS schemes.
This was welcomed by the Micro-Renewable Energy Federation(MREF), whose president, Pat Smith, said: “Any farmer who commits to a renewable investment must be encouraged and supported with their grant application being approved.”
“The challenge that now faces Minister McConalogue and his department is to process these applications as quickly as possible to ensure that every farmer who has applied gets their project approved and installation works started,” Smith added.