Mr. Tom Canning:

On TAMS applications, the first tranche of TAMS closed on 30 June 2023. As it stands, approximately 80% of those applications have been processed. A number of farmers currently have a shortfall in slurry storage and are going through the planning process at present, which takes a minimum of up to three months. The TAMS application system is currently logjammed. It really is. We are seeing serious delays of six, seven or eight months for critical slurry storage facilities on farms to address capacity shortfalls where they may happen. The future is very worrying, if we do not address this issue of TAMS support. It is all right talking about 70% grant aid, but if it takes six, 12 or 18 months to secure that grant aid, then we are really barking up the wrong tree.

The excretion rates for dairy cows are currently under review by Teagasc. Farmers who currently have a shortfall in slurry storage capacity on their farms do not qualify for TAMS support. If we bring in this new regulation, where we will increase the excretion rate from 0.33 cu. m up to 0.4 cu. m for a dairy cow, I estimated that just to deal with that increase for an 85-cow herd, it will cost a farmer somewhere in the region of €25,000 plus VAT, in addition to 180 cu. m of additional slurry storage on a farm. We are then logjamming the system.