Paul Kehoe (Wexford, Fine Gael)
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320. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine if he will consider including agricultural and farm contractors in the new targeted agricultural modernisation scheme (TAMS 3); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [10747/23]

Charlie McConalogue (Donegal, Fianna Fail)
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The EU regulations (Article 17 of EU Regulation 1305/2013) that provide for the TAMS scheme under the RDP 2014 – 2020, specify that TAMS II beneficiaries must be farmers or groups of farmers.

The regulatory transitional provisions for support from the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development (EAFRD) in the years 2021 and 2022 do not alter this definition.  These are also the legal basis for TAMS 3. 

Therefore, the Department is precluded from funding the purchase of equipment by contractors under TAMS 3 unless they are also farmers.