Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank Deputy Ferris. I met representatives from the poultry sector recently and they make a strong case. The rural development programme, RDP, for the period 2014-20 was submitted to the EU Commission for approval in July 2014. The programme includes provision for a new targeted agricultural modernisation scheme, TAMS II.  Under TAMS II, there will be a dedicated scheme for investment in the pig and poultry sectors, focusing in the case of poultry operations on a range of energy and water efficiency measures.  This will include a system for dispensing medication.  The standard rate of aid under this scheme will be 40%, but the investment items will also be available for selection under the young farmers' capital investment scheme, where a rate of 60% will apply.

The total allocation for TAMS II in the 2014-20 RDP is €395 million.

As a tranche system will be in place for each scheme and farmers have three years to complete the investment works concerned, very limited funding will be required in 2015 to ensure that the schemes can be opened. Now that the required letter of comfort has been received from the Commission, we are in a position to start the roll-out of the various TAMS schemes. The first scheme to be launched will be the young farmer scheme, including poultry elements, followed by dairy equipment, low emission slurry spreaders and organic capital investments. The remaining schemes, including the general pig and poultry measure, will be launched later in the summer and I will announce the relevant allocation at that stage.

I have told the poultry industry that we need to try to calculate how much money we have for TAMS II and when it is likely to be drawn down. That will determine how much money I can commit to the pigs and poultry sector. We have committed to a scheme for pigs and poultry. The question is whether we confine it to heating, ventilation, lighting systems and energy management or whether it will be something more substantial to allow for expansion of the sector. This is an ongoing discussion. I suspect the scheme will be launched before the end of July.

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