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Targeted Agricultural Modernisation Scheme (TAMS)

Targeted agricultural Measures Scheme
TAMS grants available under six different categories.
· Dairy Equipment Scheme;
· Animal Welfare, Safety and Nutrient Storage Scheme;
· Low Emission Slurry Spreading Equipment Scheme;
· Young Farmer Capital Investment Scheme.
· Tillage Capital Investment Scheme
· Organic Capital Investment Scheme
Applicants for all schemes can avail of a 40-60pc grant on a maximum €80,000 spend. There is a separate spend threshold for the Low Emission Slurry Spreading (LESS) equipment grant of €40,000. By availing of this grant for LESS, the threshold of €80,000 for other schemes is not reduced.
 
The Young Farmer Capital Investment scheme (YFCIS) provides a grant of 60pc on a maximum spend of €80,000 to each applicant. Young farmers can apply for grant aid for items contained in schemes 1, 2 and 3 under the one application in the YFCIS. Young farmers are deemed those who have not reached age 40 yet.

Grant Aid

Grants will be paid on approved and eligible expenditure only once it has been completed. The minimum eligible expenditure is €2,000 and the maximum is €80,000. Grant aid of 40pc of eligible expenditure is available. The ceiling for a registered farm partnership — including two or more eligible farmers — is €160,000.
 
If an individual farmer applies for grant aid on the maximum investment of €80,000 on the Dairy Equipment Scheme, then he/she cannot apply for grant aid under any other TAMS II scheme. The exception to this rule is the Low Emission Slurry Spreading Scheme (LESS), which is a stand-alone scheme and not covered by the €80,000 ceiling.

Applicants

Applicants must have a minimum of 5ha owned or leased. These lands must be declared under the Basic Payment Scheme in the year of the application (or the preceding year in the case of intensive enterprises).
Applicants must own or have a leasehold title on the lands on which it is proposed to undertake the developments.
 
Applicants receiving grant payments of €10,000 or more in any 12-month period will have to provide a valid Tax Clearance Certificate or a Tax Clearance Reference Number from Revenue before payments will be issued.Applicants will have to make a declaration that their tax affairs are, to the best of their knowledge, in order, where the grant payments are under €10,000.
 
Applicants must have completed in the five years prior to submission of their grant application their FETAC Level 6 Advanced Certificate in Agriculture (Green Cert) or the Farm Safety Code of Practice course. In the case of partnerships or companies, young farmers must have completed the course.

Completion of work and payment

The claim for payment can only be made online. All works must be completed and claims must be submitted within six months of approval in the case of certain equipment (such as automatic washers and water heaters) and 12 months in the case of built structures and fixed equipment (milking machines and bulk tanks) from the date of issue of approval or by a date specified in the letter of approval, whichever is earlier.
 
In cases where work has commenced but additional time is needed to complete investment work or finalise supporting documentation, an application for an extension can be applied for.
 
The extension will be for a maximum of six months starting from the original completion date. The extension will only be granted for structures and fixed investments where work has commenced. No extension will be granted for mobile equipment.
 
The application for an extension must be lodged together with documentary evidence to the online system between the start of the eight month and before the end of the eleventh month following the original date of approval to join the scheme.
 
The applicant must demonstrate that investment work has started by uploading the following supporting evidence:
 
a) photos of work in progress, and
b) delivery dockets and/or payment of deposits that are after the approvals date.
The following is the minimum required to be considered as work commenced: buildings — stanchions in place; mass concrete tanks/ structures — reinforced steel in place; fixed equipment/milking equipment — copy of deposit or delivery docket.
 
All supporting documentation must be submitted with the claim for payment. Failure to submit all supporting documentation within the required time frame may result in the non-payment of an investment or the entire claim for payment.
 
Late claims
Payment claims lodged after the completion date will be subject to a 1% reduction of aid for each working day received late up to a maximum of 25 days. Claims received after the 25th working day will result in rejection of the payment claim and zero payment.
Further information is available from the Department of Agriculture