Erin McGreehan (Louth, Fianna Fail)
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317. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the timeline and commencement dates for the advance payments for the areas of natural constraint scheme. [60637/25]

Martin Heydon (Kildare South, Fine Gael)
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My Department is fully committed to making payments to farmers under the various schemes at the earliest date possible and to the maximum number of farmers possible. This commitment to farmers is evidenced in the very high payment rates achieved across all schemes over the last number of years in both EU and Exchequer funded schemes.

The timelines for all schemes, including the planned payment dates, have been set after extensive consultation with farmers while also taking account of application systems, monitoring systems, validation and processing systems and payment systems.

In 2025, my Department commenced payments under the Areas of Natural Constraints (ANC) scheme from September 17th ensuring money flowed as soon as practically possible to farmers.

This payment date is in line with the traditional payment date of the ANC Scheme to farmers and is as outlined in the Farmers' Charter.

Erin McGreehan (Louth, Fianna Fail)
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318. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the timeline and commencement dates for the areas of specific constraint scheme. [60638/25]

Martin Heydon (Kildare South, Fine Gael)
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My Department is fully committed to making payments to farmers under the various schemes at the earliest date possible and to the maximum number of farmers possible. This commitment to farmers is evidenced in the very high payment rates achieved across all schemes over the last number of years in both EU and Exchequer funded schemes.

The timelines for all schemes, including the planned payment dates, have been set after extensive consultation with farmers and taking account of application systems, monitoring systems, validation and processing systems and payment systems.

Since 2023, the Areas of Specific Constraints scheme forms part of, and is paid under, the ANC Scheme.

In 2025, my Department commenced payments under the Areas of Natural Constraints (ANC) scheme from September 17th ensuring money flowed as soon as practically possible to farmers.

This payment date is in line with the traditional payment date of the ANC Scheme to farmers and as outlined in the Farmers' Charter.

Erin McGreehan (Louth, Fianna Fail)
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319. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the timeline and commencement dates for the organic farming scheme. [60639/25]

Martin Heydon (Kildare South, Fine Gael)
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In Budget 2026 my Department has received an allocation of €58.6 million to provide for a continuation of financial support to organic farmers and to encourage the production of organic foods. Work is ongoing to facilitate the reopening of the Organic Farming Scheme and commencement dates for this will be confirmed shortly.

Erin McGreehan (Louth, Fianna Fail)
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320. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the timeline and commencement dates for the eco-scheme. [60640/25]

Martin Heydon (Kildare South, Fine Gael)
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My Department is fully committed to making payments to farmers under the various schemes at the earliest date possible and to the maximum number of farmers possible. This commitment to farmers is evidenced in the very high payment rates achieved across all schemes over the last number of years in both EU and Exchequer funded schemes.

The timelines for all schemes, including the planned payment dates, have been set after extensive consultation with farmers and taking account of application systems, monitoring systems, validation and processing systems and payment systems.

In 2025, my Department commenced payments under the Eco-scheme from 22nd October ensuring money flowed as soon as practically possible to farmers. This payment date is in line with the payment date of the Eco-Scheme to farmers since the introduction of the scheme in 2023 and as agreed through the Farmers' Charter.

Erin McGreehan (Louth, Fianna Fail)
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321. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the timeline and commencement dates for the targeted agriculture modernisation scheme (TAMS III). [60641/25]

Martin Heydon (Kildare South, Fine Gael)
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The Targeted Agriculture Modernisation Scheme (TAMS 3) provides grants to farmers to build and/or improve a specified range of farm buildings and equipment on their holdings. All investments must be linked to Climate, Environment or Animal Welfare.

The scheme opened in 2023 and will be in place for the period of the CAP Strategic Plan, until the end of 2027. TAMS 3 is operated in rolling tranches, with each tranche open for approximately three months. Tranche 9 closed for applications on 5 September, while tranche 10 is currently open and will close on 5 December 2025.

TAMS has been very popular, with 51,396 applications received in the first nine tranches. In excess of €112 million in payments has issued to date, with approvals and payments continuing to issue on a daily basis.

Erin McGreehan (Louth, Fianna Fail)
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322. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine for an update on the timeline and commencement dates for the basic income support for sustainability scheme. [60648/25]

Martin Heydon (Kildare South, Fine Gael)
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My Department is fully committed to making payments to farmers under the various schemes at the earliest date possible and to the maximum number of farmers possible. This commitment to farmers is evidenced in the very high payment rates achieved across all schemes over the last number of years in both EU and Exchequer funded schemes.

The timelines for all schemes, including the planned payment dates, have been set after extensive consultation with farmers and taking account of application systems, monitoring systems, validation and processing systems and payment systems.

In 2025, my Department commenced payments under the Basic Income Support for Sustainability (BISS) scheme from October 16th ensuring money flowed as soon as practically possible to farmers.

This payment date is in line with the traditional payment date of the BISS Scheme to farmers and is as outlined in the Farmers' Charter.

Erin McGreehan (Louth, Fianna Fail)
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323. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine for an update on the timeline and commencement dates for the complementary redistributive income support for sustainability scheme. [60649/25]

Martin Heydon (Kildare South, Fine Gael)
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My Department is fully committed to making payments to farmers under the various schemes at the earliest date possible and to the maximum number of farmers possible. This commitment to farmers is evidenced in the very high payment rates achieved across all schemes over the last number of years in both EU and Exchequer funded schemes.

The timelines for all schemes, including the planned payment dates, have been set after extensive consultation with farmers and taking account of application systems, monitoring systems, validation and processing systems and payment systems.

In 2025, my Department commenced payments under the Complementary Redistributive Income Support for Sustainability (CRISS) scheme from October 16th ensuring money flowed as soon as practically possible to farmers.

This payment date is in line with the traditional payment date of the CRISS Scheme to farmers and is as outlined in the Farmers' Charter.