All tranche 20 applicants, including the applicants carried over from previous tranches, must receive approval without delay, IFA rural development chair Michael Biggins has said.

The IFA is urging Minister for Agriculture Charlie McConalogue to ensure that the delays in previous tranches are addressed in order to avoid on-farm investment plans stalling.

The comments came following the announcement that tranche 21 of TAMS will open on Saturday 16 January under the EU CAP transitional rules.

Uncertainty

Tranche 20 of the scheme is due to close on Friday and Biggins has called for no gap to be left between the closing of one tranche and the opening of another.

“Over €260m has been paid out to 18,500 applicants and €80m was announced in the budget for TAMS.

"I am calling for confirmation that there will be four definite tranche dates for 2021, which is vital to farmers' investment plans.

“Just 70% of applicants have been approved for the last two tranches. Unsuccessful applicants have been carried forward to subsequent tranches, leaving farmers facing an uncertain situation concerning their investments.”

Assists planning

President of the Agricultural Consultants Association (ACA) Tom Canning has welcomed the confirmation, stating that ACA members can now discuss their development projects with their clients with some certainty.

“[The] ACA in recent meetings with the Minister and his officials outlined the significant benefits of TAMS to farmers and rural agri businesses.

“Members submit the majority of TAMS applications for farmers in Ireland and the extension greatly helps in the planning and development on Irish farms across all sectors.”

Calf scheme

The continuation of the Calf Investment Scheme under TAMS is welcome news for farmers, Fine Gael Senator spokesperson on Agriculture Tim Lombard has said.

Over 2,500 farmers applied for the scheme during 2020.

Lombard continued: “I was somewhat surprised to hear there would be no scheme in place for 2021 in November, as I think most of the farming community was.

“The fund has been extremely successful because it delivers practical measures and is very farmer friendly.”

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