Brendan Griffin (Kerry, Fine Gael)
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379. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine if an additional payment can be claimed for preparatory works required in respect of TAMS grant applicants for the replacement of slots; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [35952/20]

Charlie McConalogue (Donegal, Fianna Fail)
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The financial allocation in respect of TAMS for the full Rural Development Programme period is €395m. To date, total expenditure, including transitional expenditure, has reached €252m with committments of an additional €130m made to scheme participants who have yet to draw down those commitments.

Uptake under the scheme has been significant with 33,354 applications approved to date. All outstanding approvals issued represent potential outstanding liabilities for my Department and we must have a budget in place to pay these claims.

There are a wide variety of items available under the suite of seven measures under TAMS II, including grant aid for the replacement of slats under the Animal Welfare, Safety and Nutrient Storage Measure, Organics Capital Investment Scheme and the Young Farmer Capitals Investment Scheme. I can confirm that standard site preparation costs needed for the replacement of slats are included in the reference cost for grand aid.