Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Charlie McConalogue has said he aims to ensure that anybody who needs to do on-farm work in winter to be ready for spring can do so.
Targeted Agricultural Modernisation Scheme (TAMS) applicants would need to show that their applications are urgent in order to have them dealt with now, the minister said.
Speaking in the Dáil yesterday (Wednesday, October 4), the minister responded to a question by Fianna Fáil TD for Cork east, Deputy James O’Connor about ongoing TAMS delays.
TAMS
Minister McConalogue highlighted that the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (DAFM) will be accepting 100% of all those who applied and meet the criteria.
Around half of all applications received are for mobile investments, he said, for which the DAFM has given forward approval and those applicants can now make their purchase under TAMS.
This was done to ensure that applicants who need to finish work by this winter, such as those who need slurry storage or sheds for animal welfare, could apply for urgent approval.
Urgent applications relating to work that needs to be done this autumn have been pulled out, he said, and such applicants should have notified the DAFM by September 15.
Deputy O’Connor said he knows of “urgent” cases where people looking to make improvements to the on-farm infrastructure for the proper care of animals are caught up in ongoing delays.
“If there are other applications of which the deputy is aware, he should please bring them to me. The applicants would need to show the applications are urgent in order that they can get dealt with now.
“We wish to ensure that anybody who needs to do work in winter to be ready for spring can do so. That is the objective.
“Once we have all those applications approved, we will work our way through the others in as effective and efficient a way as possible,” Minister McConalogue said.
While the deputy said the “backlog” in the TAMS administration office within the DAFM needs to be “reduced urgently”, the minister said it would be unfair to characterise it as such.
The DAFM is working through all the other applications and the first in the line to get approval in that regard will be applications under the solar TAMS, Minister McConalogue said.
“This tranche is by far the largest number of applicants we have ever had. Obviously, that has created a big administrative burden in terms of working through the approvals,” he added.