Tim Lombard (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister for his comprehensive response and for the update on the TAMS scheme. He is right in saying that it is a very important scheme, and the uptake among farmers, with more than 12,500 applying, is very much welcomed. Again, it comes down to the payment and the actual payment scheme. In many ways it is in the farmers' hands. They must move the projects forward and trigger the payment. When will the Minister have an indication of whether there will be money left over from the scheme? Does he know a date on which these applications will mature and will not be drawn down? I expect that a cohort of applications in the system will not be drawn down.

Do we know the date on which this cohort will fall off the system? We might then know when the funds assigned to them would be made available, and thus be able to extend the scheme to cattle passes or even agricultural generators. I know it is an issue of timing, and I appreciate that the Minister is under pressure, but it is important that at some point we get a budgetary figure and amend it appropriately.