Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)

The pig and poultry sectors will be and are being prioritised. Applications opened for pigs and poultry last June, more than a year ago. I suspended applications a week less than a year into the scheme. People had almost a full year to submit their applications. There is an urgency with regard to poultry as by next January the necessary changes need to have been made in poultry units to comply with the new EU legislation on animal husbandry. I do not want to see businesses closing down because of being unable to make the necessary changes to a poultry house or a poultry unit because of not being able to get into TAMS. Under the poultry scheme, payments totalling €11.15 million will be approved shortly and people should make the necessary changes.

With regard to the sow welfare scheme, 22 applications have been made to a total value of approximately €2.4 million. The work involved must be completed by the following January which gives a window of an extra 12 months. That is why poultry is of particular concern at present.

The Deputy is correct to state the overall original estimate for TAMS, which was to run for the next three years, was approximately €90 million. However, this funding must be accounted for by the Department under the expenditure ceilings. Regardless of from where the money comes, I am allowed to spend only a certain amount of money under the expenditure ceilings. This is very restrictive, which is why we must prioritise.

TAMS is very good and I want to prioritise it. I aspire to reopening it for applications in the not too distant future.

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