ICMSA say slow review on TAMS Costings is costing “valuable time” on improving water quality

The Chairperson of ICMSA Farm Business Committee, Pat O’Brien, has urged the Department of Agriculture to complete its review of TAMS reference costs and proceed “immediately” with the increases that all know must follow.

“This delay is ‘knocking-on’ and effectively jamming up the system as interested farmers await the publication of the review that will – we hope- reconnect the TAMS costings with the real price of, for instance, concrete and steel. We raised just this point at the recent Farmers Charter meeting, and we hope we impressed on the officials that if the grants towards helping farmers to improve water quality are to have any relevance then the grants themselves must be relevant to the actuals costs of building materials – not some imaginary or obsolete figures that bear no relation to reality”, said Mr. O’Brien.

The Department, while it has confirmed it is working on updating overall costings, said it will be later in the year when the review is complete with no definite timeline provided. Mr. O’Brien said that whole building seasons are being lost through delay and prevarication on something that “everyone knows” will have to be updated and rectified.

Mr. O’Brien also reminded farmers that a two-week TAMS tranche is now open, until Friday, 28^th March, for items related to storm damage. The items for which applications will be accepted during this period include back-up PTO generators and bovine fencing. Applications for items not outlined by the Minister as related to storm damage will not be accepted in this tranche and must be made instead when the next regular tranche opens on 29^th March.    

The Committee Chairperson said that this mini additional tranche should not delay the approvals of applications under Tranche 6, which closed on 7 March and particular for slurry storage where farmers will be hoping to complete the work before the end of summer and so show the incremental progress that will all go to help retain Ireland’s Nitrates Derogation.

“This delay is costing us valuable time and progress that could matter for that critical Derogation decision at the year’s end”, he warned.

Mr. O’Brien also highlighted confusion around grant-aid for robotic milking machines under the TAMS Dairy Equipment Scheme and called on the Department to update the Scheme’s Terms and Conditions.  “It was confirmed last October that farmers could now apply for funding for more than one robot between TAMS 2 and 3 but the Scheme’s Ts and Cs updated in January this year still outline that grant aid will only be paid on one machine per holding if an applicant has received grant aid for the item previously.   This is not correct, and the Terms and Conditions should be updated immediately to reflect the change announced last October”, he concluded.

Ends     12 March.

Pat O’Brien, 087-4904424

Chairperson, ICMSA Farm Business Committee

Or

Cathal MacCarthy, 087-6168758

ICMSA Press Office