Seán Canney (Galway East, Independent)
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302. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine if he will increase the level of grants to farmers for farm sheds due to the recent increases in the cost of materials; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [29033/21]

Charlie McConalogue (Donegal, Fianna Fail)
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There are a wide variety of items available under the suite of seven measures under TAMS II. To date, total expenditure under the seven measures of the TAMS, including transitional expenditure, has reached in excess of €286m with commitments of an additional €157m made to scheme participants who have yet to draw down those commitments.

The rate of grant aid is set at 40% except in the case of qualified young farmers where the rate of grant aid available to such farmers is increased to 60%. As regards the costings of individual items available under all the TAMS schemes, these costings are currently being reviewed. Any changes identified to the costings will be considered once this review process has been completed.

Patricia Ryan (Kildare South, Sinn Fein)
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303. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the extent to which health and safety will feature in planned future farming schemes; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [29056/21]

Charlie McConalogue (Donegal, Fianna Fail)
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To highlight the importance of farm safety, the Government assigned my ministerial colleague, Martin Heydon, TD the specific responsibility for Farm Safety in his portfolio.

The next CAP Strategic Plan is currently under development in the Department and it is through this that new schemes will be put in place. The SWOT and Needs assessment process has been completed and Health and Safety has been identified as an area that requires further attention. I, along with Minister of State Heydon, expect to see Health and Safety feature strongly in our training programmes for farmers and advisors as well as through the various measures from on farm investments to livestock handling.

Under the current Rural Development Programme (RDP), health and safety is incorporated into the on-farm investment scheme (TAMS) with support available for a wide range of safety measures and equipment. Health and safety is also a key element of all training and knowledge transfer schemes for farmers and advisors. This year, under the transitional arrangements, I have secured funding of €1m to consider innovative solutions to Health and Safety under the locally led Innovation Partnership model (EIP’s). I intend to take the learnings from these projects and see how they can inform our policy and supports for health and safety in any future measures.