Charlie McConalogue (Donegal, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I am hungry for ideas in this regard. I put a big effort into trying to grow the sector and support the sector. Under the straw incorporation measure, an individual tillage farmer can get up to €10,000. That was a significant injection into it.

We are in a new TAMS this year, so even if farmers have maximised their investments last time around, they now have a new €90,000 investment ceiling. We have also expanded the range of equipment that they can apply for under TAMS. The big pressure obviously is the challenge around rental prices. That has certainly been affected by the nitrates challenge. That is something I am going to raise in Europe to see if we can get additional flexibility because it is putting pressure on land and it does seem to be putting pressure on tillage in particular.

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