Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 4 May 2017
6. Deputy Michael Collins asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the rationale for the difference in the minimum amount of hectares of tillage needed to apply for the TAMS 2 scheme in comparison to the general TAMS measures; the number of persons that had less than 15 hectares of tillage under the 2016 basic farm scheme; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [20875/17]
View answerAt the outset I would like to clarify for the Deputy that the general TAMS requirement is that the applicant must be farming at least 5 hectares, that is, they must have at least 5 hectares on their BPS application. This can be grass land or tillage, not a minimum of 5 hectares of tillage as suggested by the Deputy. When the TAMS tillage measure was introduced, it required a minimum of 15 hectares of tillage because the measure is aimed specifically at tillage farmers.
During 2015, a suite of six measures were announced under the Targeted Agricultural Modernisation Scheme known as TAMS II. These measures were launched under the Rural Development Programme 2014-2020 and are co-funded under the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development (EAFRD).
The measures announced were the:
1. Young Farmers Capital Investment Scheme
2. Dairy Equipment Scheme
3. Organic Capital Investment Scheme
4. Animal Welfare, Safety and Nutrient Storage Scheme
5. Low Emission Slurry Spreading, and the
6. Pig and Poultry Investment Scheme.
A seventh measure, the Tillage Capital Investment Scheme was launched on 8 March 2017.
Among the stated objectives of this measure are - to facilitate the Tillage Sector to develop a targeted and precise approach focusing on environmental dividends, efficiency and growth and to improve competitiveness in the sector.
The Tillage Capital Investment Scheme requires that applicants must have a minimum area of 15 hectares of eligible crops declared under the Basic Payment Scheme or equivalent in the year of application or previous year. The eligible crops are defined in the Terms and Conditions of the Scheme.
In order to ensure the best allocation of resources the new Tillage Scheme is specifically targeted at farmers who have tillage as their main enterprise. The specific areas of capital investment available for Tillage farmers include Minimum Disturbance Tillage Equipment, Sprayers, Rain Water Harvesting, Grain Storage and Grain dryers.
The investments available under the remaining TAMS II suite of measures cater for those farmers who do not meet the 15 hectare eligibility criteria but have other enterprises such as dairy, beef or sheep on their farms as well as tillage.
The remaining TAMS II Schemes are the Young Farmer Capital Investment Scheme, The Pigs and Poultry Investment Scheme, Organic Capital Investment Scheme, Animal Welfare, Safety and Nutrient Storage Scheme, Dairy Equipment Scheme and Low Emission Slurry Spreading Scheme.
Under the 2016 basic payments scheme, 12,891 applicants had less than 15 hectares of tillage. It is important to note that the definition of tillage includes wild bird cover, so many of these herds only have wild bird cover and no other tillage crops. The financial allocation for TAMS II in respect of the full RDP period will be in the region of €395m. The 2017 allocation for TAMS II is €50m.
