Time is running out for the first approvals issued under the Targeted Agricultural Modernisation Schemes (TAMS II) to submit payment claims.
The Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Michael Creed, confirmed the news in a response to a parliamentary question from Fianna Fail’s agriculture spokesperson Charlie McConalogue.
Commenting on the matter, the minister said: “The first TAMS II approvals are now starting to lapse, as the time for applying for payment has expired. It is a matter for each TAMS applicant to ensure that they submit their payment application within the timeframe of their approval.
All participants who have completed approved works have been encouraged to submit a payment claim.
Meanwhile, the minister also gave a brief overview of the scheme to Deputy McConalogue.
Minister Creed explained that over 13,000 approvals have now issued for the various investments covered by the suite of seven TAMS II measures.
Continuing, he said: “Applications that were submitted under tranches one to five were issued with approvals which had a lifetime of up to three years. Thereafter, applications were approved with a completion period of six months for mobile investments or 12 months for fixed investments.
The budget for TAMS II for the duration of the Rural Development Programme (2014-2020) is €395 million. Payment claims continue to be received and processed on an ongoing basis as is the case with applications for approval.
“At this point, payments to the value of €45.4 million have issued. The number of outstanding approvals in respect of which payment claims have not yet been submitted by participants is currently 9,500.”
The usage of the budget is dependent on the volume and value of payment claims submitted by approved participants, as they complete their approved works and the expenditure is monitored closely, the minister added.
Investment ceiling
As well as this, Minister Creed confirmed that there are no plans to raise the investment ceiling of €80,000/holding under the Targeted Agricultural Modernisation Schemes (TAMS II).
There are no plans to raise the TAMS II ceiling from the current level of €80,000.
“It should be noted that in the case of eligible farm partnerships, the overall investment ceiling is raised to €160,000. In addition, the investment ceiling under the Low-Emission Slurry Spreading Equipment (LESS) scheme is not subject to the overall TAMS II investment ceiling.”