The Department of Agriculture has confirmed that a sheep fencing element will be added to the current tranche of TAMS II ready for online applications. Farmers should be able to make online applications for the scheme starting this Thursday and crucially before the tranche closes to applications on 24 June.

Each tranche in TAMS II lasts approximately three months and applications are not ranked and approved to start work until the tranche closes. This explains why it is crucial that sheep farmers got the opportunity to apply now in the current tranche in order to receive approval to start work this year and preferably in the summer months.

At a meeting with the Department of Agriculture last week, the IFA pointed out that unless the scheme was introduced in this tranche, little or no sheep fencing would be completed this year. The Department of Agriculture indicated to the IFA that there will be no minimum sheep number requirement similar to the last scheme, with the investment limit being integrated into the overall maximum of €80,000 for TAMS II.

Grant aid

The reference cost applicable to sheep fencing is €5.34 per linear metre for sheep mesh with one strand of wire. For those who qualify in mountain areas the rate per linear metre of sheep mesh with one strand of wire is €8.01.Gateways will also be granted aided and the reference cost is €299.00 per gateway.

In TAMS II, grant aid will only be paid on approved, completed and eligible expenditure and will be paid at the standard rate of 40% for the majority of schemes up to an investment ceiling of €80,000 per holding but if you are a young trained farmer and apply under YFCIS this increases to 60%.

First payments to go out in late July

Speaking in the Dáil on Wednesday, Minister for Agriculture Michael Creed said that payments under the first two tranches of the scheme will begin in late July. The minister made the prediction in spite of the fact that over 5,000 farmers are still waiting on approvals to begin building work under these two tranches.

In the Dáil, Creed admitted there had been delays with approvals and that his Department was "playing catch-up". He added that a number of new schemes were launched in 2015 and that perhaps his Department was "ambitious" in attempting to manage all the applications that came in under these new schemes.

"It is not a fault to be ambitious though," the Minister continued. "Approvals are now occurring on a rolling basis and the first payments will go out in late July," he said.

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