Domestic dwellings will be removed from the solar scheme under the Targeted Agricultural Modernisation Scheme (TAMS 3), a senior Department of Agriculture official has confirmed.
Assistant secretary general Paul Savage told the Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture last week that domestic dwellings will be removed from the Solar Capital Investment Scheme in tranche 11 of the popular scheme.
This, he said, will enable a focus on supplying solar panels for on-farm demand and should enable a higher percentage of applications to be selected for approval.
“Farmers wishing to install solar panels for domestic use may apply for support from the Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland (SEAI),” he informed TDs and senators at the committee.
The move to remove dwellings has come on the back of massive demand for the TAMS scheme from farmers.
Surge in applications
A total of 59,302 applications have been received under the first 10 tranches of the scheme compared with 19,700 applications at the same stage of its predecessor TAMS 2, Savage outlined.
“We have effectively three times the number of applications. Over the first eight tranches, the decision was taken to approve all eligible applications. We approved far more applications over those first eight tranches in TAMS 3 than we did in TAMS 2.
We could not continue to spend at the rate we were spending across the first eight tranches because the money would simply run out
“In the same way we had three times the number of applications, we issued three times the number of approvals.
"The level of demand for participation in the scheme reflects the value and attraction of it to farmers in providing support. The numbers were a significant increase on the previous TAMS,” he said.
Budget management
Savage said the Department has had to move to manage the overall TAMS budget since tranche nine and moved to apply ranking and selection to applications under tranche nine and 10.
“After the first eight tranches had received approval for all eligible applications, we had to try to manage the budget because there is a defined budget available over the period of the CAP strategic plan and a defined budget available to us over the next couple of years in terms of expenditure on the scheme.
“We could not continue to spend at the rate we were spending across the first eight tranches because the money would simply run out.
“That happened during TAMS 2 as well, where we introduced ranking and selection halfway through the scheme because with the level of response from farmers and based on the available budget, it had to be managed over the remaining period of the previous Rural Development Programme (RDP).
“We are in a similar situation now with the CAP strategic plan, where we now have to manage the budget,” he said.
Expenditure
In tranche 10, a reduction of 90% has been applied to expenditure on the TAMS solar scheme, Savage said.
"This is acknowledging the fact that there has been expenditure of almost €28m under the scheme to date, accounting for approximately 20% of TAMS 3 expenditure to date.
"Almost 3,300 farmers have received approval to proceed with works, while 1,459 farmers have installed panels and received grant aid for their completed investment," he added.
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Domestic dwellings will be removed from the solar scheme under the Targeted Agricultural Modernisation Scheme (TAMS 3), a senior Department of Agriculture official has confirmed.
Assistant secretary general Paul Savage told the Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture last week that domestic dwellings will be removed from the Solar Capital Investment Scheme in tranche 11 of the popular scheme.
This, he said, will enable a focus on supplying solar panels for on-farm demand and should enable a higher percentage of applications to be selected for approval.
“Farmers wishing to install solar panels for domestic use may apply for support from the Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland (SEAI),” he informed TDs and senators at the committee.
The move to remove dwellings has come on the back of massive demand for the TAMS scheme from farmers.
Surge in applications
A total of 59,302 applications have been received under the first 10 tranches of the scheme compared with 19,700 applications at the same stage of its predecessor TAMS 2, Savage outlined.
“We have effectively three times the number of applications. Over the first eight tranches, the decision was taken to approve all eligible applications. We approved far more applications over those first eight tranches in TAMS 3 than we did in TAMS 2.
We could not continue to spend at the rate we were spending across the first eight tranches because the money would simply run out
“In the same way we had three times the number of applications, we issued three times the number of approvals.
"The level of demand for participation in the scheme reflects the value and attraction of it to farmers in providing support. The numbers were a significant increase on the previous TAMS,” he said.
Budget management
Savage said the Department has had to move to manage the overall TAMS budget since tranche nine and moved to apply ranking and selection to applications under tranche nine and 10.
“After the first eight tranches had received approval for all eligible applications, we had to try to manage the budget because there is a defined budget available over the period of the CAP strategic plan and a defined budget available to us over the next couple of years in terms of expenditure on the scheme.
“We could not continue to spend at the rate we were spending across the first eight tranches because the money would simply run out.
“That happened during TAMS 2 as well, where we introduced ranking and selection halfway through the scheme because with the level of response from farmers and based on the available budget, it had to be managed over the remaining period of the previous Rural Development Programme (RDP).
“We are in a similar situation now with the CAP strategic plan, where we now have to manage the budget,” he said.
Expenditure
In tranche 10, a reduction of 90% has been applied to expenditure on the TAMS solar scheme, Savage said.
"This is acknowledging the fact that there has been expenditure of almost €28m under the scheme to date, accounting for approximately 20% of TAMS 3 expenditure to date.
"Almost 3,300 farmers have received approval to proceed with works, while 1,459 farmers have installed panels and received grant aid for their completed investment," he added.
Read more
TAMS III: solar scheme for farms and dwelling houses now open
Farmers advised to shift to SEAI for solar supports
Ranking and selection for TAMS tranche nine applications
77% of tranche nine TAMS applications selected – as ranking comes into play
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