The Temporary Business Energy Support Scheme (TBESS) announced on Budget day will not cover the average increase in pig farmers’ energy costs over the past 12 months.

The energy support scheme will seek to compensate businesses, including farmers, who experienced a rise in per unit electricity prices of over 50% on last year’s bills.

It will operate on a self-assessment basis.

Two-fifths of the price rise will be covered, with the monthly payment cap of €10,000 allowing eligible farmers to claim up to €60,000 over the six months.

However, the Teagasc national pig conference last week heard that the electricity bill in the average 600-sow unit rose by slightly over €101,000 per year.

The monthly cap is unlikely to affect many other enterprises’ farmer applicants.

The Finance Bill states that the scheme will be backdated to September 2022 and will run until February of next year once opened by the Department of Enterprise.

The Department of Enterprise confirmed to the Irish Farmers Journal that the scheme is subject to EU state aid rules which caps all monies a farmer can claim through state aid at €62,000.

Farmers who availed of other state aid schemes under section 2.1 of the EU’s Temporary Crisis Framework may hit this €62,000 ceiling without drawing down the maximum monthly allowance in energy supports.