Michael Creed (Cork North West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the opportunity to provide an update on the targeted agricultural modernisation scheme, known as TAMS II, and I thank the Senator for raising this matter. TAMS II is made up of a suite of seven measures providing valuable grant aid to Irish farmers. These measures were launched under the Rural Development Programme 2014-2020, RDP, and are co-funded under the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development, EAFRD. Because of this, they are subject to all the provisions of the relevant EU regulations. These regulations specify that TAMS II support be granted to farmers or groups of farmers. It is not therefore possible under the EU regulation for Ireland to amend the terms and conditions to extend the grant aid available under TAMS II to contractors who are not farmers.

There are seven measures available under TAMS II providing grants for capital investment in physical assets. Under the young farmers capital investment scheme, additional support is available for young trained farmers, as they are offered a higher rate of grant aid of 60% compared to the standard rate of 40%. The specific measure being raised by Senator Boyhan is the low emission slurry spreading scheme. Uptake under this measure has been particularly high, with more than 2,500 approvals issued and more than 1,100 applications paid to date. I welcome the high level of uptake under this measure, as it delivers real environmental dividends and is evidence of the willingness of Irish farmers to embrace new technologies that benefit the environment and contribute to climate change mitigation.

The eligibility requirements for the low emission slurry spreading scheme are set out in the terms and conditions and indicate that the scheme is open to farmers who hold a Department identifier and have declared a minimum of 5 ha under the basic payment scheme in the year of application or preceding year, or have a minimum of 60 production units in the case of pig farmers.

To date, total expenditure on LESS equipment is €19 million, of which €6.5 million has been paid to qualifying young farmers. It is open to approved applicants to submit an online payment claim as soon as they are in a position to do so. I urged all approved applicants who have completed their works to submit a payment claim as soon as they are in a position to do so.