Charlie McConalogue (Donegal, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Senator again for raising this issue. It is the first time it has been raised with me on the floor of the Seanad or Dáil. It is no surprise it is the Senator who has done so, given his commitment to the scheme and to the importance of on-farm investment.

The structure of the scheme and the way it operates are about going forward. It is my understanding that this is what we have approval to do. I accept the Senator's point that as we move forward with the scheme, it must be reflective of costs. The costs are coming in for those who were in tranche 1 and were assessed and updated before TAMS 3 was launched. We are just starting to get the cost assessments from those who got grant approval and proceeded with work. As those returns come in, they will be assessed to see what the evolving situation is on the ground, with a view, as the year moves on and as we receive more returns, to updating the reference costs, as has been done previously over the long history of TAMS.

I will give the Senator's feedback to the TAMS team in my Department. Looking forward, any change that may be made over the next couple of months, including updated reference costs, will apply into the future for future applicants only.