The Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (DAFM) has said that nearly 70% of the applications made under tranche 4 of the Targeted Agriculture Modernisation Schemes (TAMS 3) have now been approved.

TAMS provides grants to farmers to build and/or improve a specified range of farm buildings and equipment on their holding.

The scheme is is jointly funded by the national exchequer and the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development (EAFRD) of the European Union under Ireland’s RDP 2014-2022 and Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) Strategic Plan 2023-2027.

The latest data, published by the department, shows that 4,059 (69%) out of the 5,864 applications made in tranche 4 have been approved.

212 applications have been rejected by officials, with a further 127 withdrawn from the scheme.

The following table provides the latest update on tranche 4 applications for the 10 schemes contained in TAMS 3:

TAMS 3 schemeApplicationsRejectedWithdrawnIn progressApproved
Animal Welfare Nutrient Storage Scheme1,59841464721,039
Dairy Equipment Scheme104811976
Farm Safety Capital Investment Scheme1,57087213551,107
Low Emission Slurry Spreading42911129388
Organic Capital Investment Scheme6371522103497
Pig & Poultry Investment Scheme2700522
Solar Capital Investment Scheme645219315300
Tillage Capital Investment Scheme26714812233
Women Farmer Capital Investment Scheme2469767163
Young Farmer Capital Investment Scheme34116289234
Total5,8642121271,4664,059
TAMS 3 tranche 4 applications. Source: DAFM

Meanwhile, 67 applications made under tranche 2 of TAMS 3 are still to be fully processed.

8,165 approvals (90%) have been granted out of the 9,110 applications submitted as part of this tranche.

There are 77 applications outstanding from tranche 3, with 3,361 (88%) out of 3,799 applications made in this round now approved by the department.

TAMS

Last week, the Minister for Agriculture, Food, Fisheries and the Marine, Martin Heydon announced that tranche 6 of TAMS 3 is open for applications.

This latest tranche of the scheme includes a new 60% grant for nutrient storage investments with a separate ring-fenced ceiling of €90,000.

The main investments available at the 60% grant rate include: manure pits; mass concrete tanks, including precast tanks; circular slurry stores; and geo-membrane lined stores.

Minister Heydon also set out all the tranche closing dates for this year, to allow farmers and their advisors to plan proposed investments “in a timely manner”.

The minister said that the 2025 tranche closing dates were as follows:

  • Tranche 6: March 7, 2025;
  • Tranche 7: June 6, 2025;
  • Tranche 8: September 5, 2025;
  • Tranche 9: December 5, 2025.