Cathal Crowe (Clare, Fianna Fail)
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104. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine if he will introduce TAMS grant funding for goat herd owners in order that they can install suitable fencing and handling and housing facilities for their livestock; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [36294/25]

Martin Heydon (Kildare South, Fine Gael)
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The Targeted Agricultural Modernisation Scheme (TAMS 3) provides grants to farmers to build and/or improve a specified range of farm buildings and equipment on their holdings. Overall, the scheme has proved very popular, with an unprecedented level of applications received. Grant aid support for goat housing is available under TAMS 3. In addition, the sheep handling facilities, which are also available under TAMS 3, would be suitable for goats, once the barriers around the handling unit are covered to prevent the goats from climbing.

TAMS 3 is a demand led scheme with significant budgetary constraints. As a result, it is not possible to consider adding additional items such as goat fencing to the comprehensive list of investment items already available under TAMS at this time. However such investment items may be included for consideration when evaluating further updates to the TAMS 3 investment lists.

I will ensure that the list of investment items will continue to be reviewed on a regular basis. The inclusion of further investment categories will, of course, be dependent on the availability of the required funding under the TAMS 3 schemes.