Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine Charlie McConalogue has today (Friday, June 23) announced that approval has commenced for all qualified applications received under tranche 21 of the Targeted Agricultural Modernisation Scheme (TAMS).

Letters have already started issuing to approved farmers.

“TAMS continues to be a hugely successful and beneficial scheme and I am delighted to confirm the approval of 100% of qualified applications submitted under tranche 21," the minister said.

"It gives farmers greater certainty in being able to carry out important upgrades to their farms," he added.

According to the Department of Agriculture, an average of €1.3 million per week is paid out on TAMS investments, with just over €25 million having been paid so far for completed investments in 2021.

Payments of over €290 million have now issued in respect of over 20,700 approved applications for completed investments since the opening of TAMS II in 2015, the department noted.

Minister McConalogue urged those farmers to "conclude the investment work and apply for the payment as soon as possible to facilitate the prompt issuing of payments".

The current tranche of TAMS closes on July 23. Further tranches in 2021 will open on that day and on November 5, according to the department.

Tranche 21 was the first tranche as part of the ‘rolled-over’ scheme under the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) transition period, bridging the gap between the last CAP, which ended in 2020, and the next, which is set to commence in 2023.

Tranche 21 closed to applications on April 16.