Paul Lawless (Mayo, Aontú)
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620. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine whether his Department has undertaken any assessment of the impact of delays in processing grant applications on project costs arising from inflation, contractor availability and material price increases; whether any such analysis has been carried out in relation to TAMS; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [68620/26]

Paul Lawless (Mayo, Aontú)
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623. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the longest, shortest and average processing time recorded for approved TAMS applications in each of the years 2022, 2023, 2024, 2025 and to date in 2026; the reasons for significant delays; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [68609/26]

Paul Lawless (Mayo, Aontú)
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624. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the average time taken to process and determine applications under TAMS in each of the years 2022, 2023, 2024, 2025 and to date in 2026; the number of applications in each year that took longer than 12 weeks, 24 weeks, 36 weeks and 52 weeks respectively to determine; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [68607/26]

Martin Heydon (Kildare South, Fine Gael)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 620, 623 and 624 together.

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.

To date, over 55,000 approvals have issued to farmers allowing them to proceed with their investments. Payments of over €193 million have issued to TAMS 3 participants since payments commenced in 2024, with payments of circa €1.5 million continuing to issue on a weekly basis.

My Department’s analysis of any pause in the processing of TAMS applications is largely due to the submission of applications which are complete and a delayed response to queries, raised by my Department to the applicant.

The approval process of applications commences following the ranking and selection (RASS) of all eligible applications received in a particular tranche period. The average weekly time period for approval of applications ranges from 5 weeks in 2022 to eleven weeks in 2023 as outlined in the Table 1 below. This is in line with the set targets in the Farmers’ Charter where it is agreed that approvals are issued within 3 months of the ranking and selection of files under each tranche.

The number of applications in which the approval process took longer than 12 weeks, 24 weeks, 36 weeks and 52 weeks are set out in Table 2 below. The delays in processing for these applications is largely due to the fact that insufficient documentation has been provided by the applicant or their advisor to allow the progression of the application.

The longest, shortest and average processing dates for payment claims submitted following the approval of applications to payment are set out in Table 3 below. Applicants in TAMS 3 have one year from the date of approval to complete their investments and submit a payment claim.

The figures only include applications where a payment claim has been submitted as the farmer may have decided not to proceed with their proposed investment within the required timelines.

These payment claim applications have also been processed in line with the agreed targets of payment approval within two months of receipt of a valid claim, and payment issuing with three weeks of claim approval as set out in the Farmers’ Charter.

It should also be noted that applications that my department have queried will have a longer processing period as there will be a hold on these applications until such time as the query is resolved.

A thorough examination of all investment costs was conducted by my Department last year, resulting in the updating of reference costs. My Department continues to monitor costs on an on-going basis, which will be adjusted as appropriate. I acknowledge that difficulties may arise in securing contractors at certain times so I would urge farmers to submit their application in sufficient time to ensure they can plan their proposed investments accordingly.

Table 1 - Average weeks from RASS to Approval

Paul Lawless (Mayo, Aontú)
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621. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the number of participants in ACRES who experienced delays in receiving payments in each of the years 2023, 2024, 2025 and to date in 2026; the number of participants awaiting payment for more than four weeks, eight weeks, 12 weeks and 24 weeks beyond the scheduled payment date; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [68613/26]

Martin Heydon (Kildare South, Fine Gael)
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The Agri-Climate Rural Environment Scheme, or ACRES, is the flagship environmental scheme provided under the 2023-2027 CAP Strategic Plan, with €1.5 billion in Exchequer and EU funding allocated over the course of the scheme. There are currently just over 53,000 participants in ACRES.

I wish to advise the Deputy that my Department does not hold data on the specific periods for which ACRES payments remain outstanding. It is my ambition to process payment for as many participants as possible as quickly as possible. This ambition is demonstrated by both the advance and balancing payments issuing earlier and to a higher number of participants in each year of the scheme to date. As there are a variety of reasons why a participant may not be included on the initial payment run such as outstanding documentation or issues that my officials must investigate within ACRES systems it is not possible to provide the data requested.

Over 99% of all participants in ACRES are fully paid in respect of their participation in the Scheme in respect of 2023 and 2024, while almost 98% of the participants are now also fully paid up to date in respect of 2025.

These payments will bring the amount paid in respect of ACRES since its commencement in 2023 to €788.2 million. A further sum of almost €9.5 million has been paid to farmers in the ACRES Co-operation approach for the implementation of approved non-productive investments under the Scheme.

While I am pleased with the momentum that has been generated in processing ACRES payments I can assure you that my Department is fully committed to resolving the remaining matters as a priority. ACRES pay runs are taking place regularly across all scheme years and tranches. As is the case with all EU co-funded schemes, ACRES payment claims must pass regulatory controls and validations before payment can issue.

Advance payments in respect of the 2026 scheme year are scheduled to commence in quarter four of 2026, which is in line with previous years.