2026-05-14

88. Deputy William Aird asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine whether consideration is being given to allowing farmers who are currently below slurry storage compliance requirements to access support under the targeted agricultural modernisation schemes, specifically for the purpose of achieving compliance; the pathways available for young qualified farmers and newly established farm partnerships in such circumstances; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [35068/26]

I welcome the significant investment that this Government has made through TAMS in supporting farm modernisation, improving environmental sustainability and assisting farmers to meet regulations. However, I want to raise a practical case that is happening on the ground and causing real frustration for young farmers and new farm partnerships. A qualified young farmer operating a newly established family farm partnership recently looked for a TAMS grant to upgrade slurry storage and bring the holding into compliance. However, the application was ineligible because the holding was non-compliant.

The Deputy has gone past his time. The Minister to respond.

This means a farmer is being asked to meet a standard before being allowed to access the support needed to reach it. Those willing to invest to comply are unable to access supports required to do so.

I thank Deputy Aird for raising the important matter of TAMS and the specific case of a constituent he has come across. TAMS provides grants to farmers to build and improve a specified range of farm buildings and equipment on their holdings. All investments supported by TAMS 3 must be linked to climate, environment or animal welfare. To date, almost 2,500 applications for nutrient storage investments with a proposed grant aid value of €55 million have been approved. The investments made under this measure are an important tool to support the sector in improving water quality and underline the Government's commitment on this issue. For these investments relating to farm nutrient storage, applicants must provide details of their compliance with nutrient storage requirements as laid down in SI 588 of 2025, the European Union (Good Agricultural Practice for Protection of Waters) Regulations 2025. Accordingly, applicants who do not have sufficient storage capacity to comply with these requirements are not eligible under TAMS 3 for slurry storage related investments. In respect of applicants who have not had livestock previously, I confirm that they are eligible to apply under TAMS for storage facilities. I also confirm that new entrants to farming who, as a consequence, did not have any livestock over the winter prior to applying are eligible to apply for slurry storage, as they are currently compliant with the required minimum storage amounts. In addition, farmers who currently out-winter all of their stock, assuming they are compliant with out-wintering requirements, would be considered compliant and be eligible to apply for slurry storage. It should be noted that, from 1 October 2028, the slurry storage capacity requirement for dairy cows of 0.33 cu. m per week will be amended upwards to 0.4 cu. m per week. Farmers who currently have sufficient storage capacity on their holdings will continue to be eligible to apply under TAMS for farm nutrient storage facilities to bring their holdings into compliance with the amended regulations for a maximum of two years after 1 October 2028.

The Minister knows that the farming community accepts the importance of improving storage capacity, and the farmers understand the need to protect water quality, reduce emissions and ensure holdings are compliant. I accept that significant progress in this area has been made through TAMS, especially with enhanced supports for young, trained farmers and new entrants. However, situations like the one I have outlined to the Minister highlight a gap in the practical application of the scheme. This is especially the case for smaller family farms, holdings in transition to the next generation and newly formed partnerships, who can find themselves in a position where the old infrastructure means they are below compliance but the capital cost of reaching compliance is next to impossible, as the Minister knows, without the support of TAMS. What is needed is a workable pathway to achieve these standards. Is there scope within TAMS for future schemes to consider targeted measures specifically aimed at bringing storage compliance standards, phased approaches for farms actively working towards compliance, and clear eligibility routes for young, qualified farmers and newly established partnerships in these circumstances?

The Deputy must conclude. The Minister to respond, please.

These measures are needed, and match environmental ambition and political delivery.

To answer the Deputy's question, and as I outlined in my original answer, there is provision for many of those new entrant farmers to be able to avail of TAMS in such circumstances. It is important to note that, at a high level, EU funds cannot assist in bringing a farm into legal compliance. It has to be legally compliant before it can access the funds. Where that deviates is where we have the agreed change around the increased ambition from 2028 onwards. As part of our negotiation on that, where the storage capacity for dairy cows is to increase from 1 October 2028, farmers who currently have sufficient storage capacity but will be ineligible because of that increased threshold will have two years where they will be able to avail of TAMS to support them in that space. There are plenty of caveats there to try to get around the issue. The particular issue the Deputy has highlighted is probably because it is a farm partnership, so it is not a new entrant farmer as such, which the Deputy described it as, but an entering into of a farm partnership. It is one I will discuss with the Deputy maybe offline afterwards.

The objective should be to bring farmers into compliance through investment and engagement. It should not be to exclude those who are trying to do the right thing but are limited by financing conditions. I welcome the update from the Department that it is considering additional flexibility on targeted measures, but the Minister knows quite well that there are thousands of people out there from an older generation of farmer who would buy hundreds of cattle but would not buy a load of concrete. The next person in line for succession wants to upgrade that farm and be compliant, but they are being told that they are not getting anything because of the sins of the previous person who was running the farm. A Leas-Cheann Comhairle, that is wrong. The Minister and everyone else will be getting that throughout their constituencies. I ask the Minister, if he can at all, to please revisit this and look at it again. We are trying to encourage young farmers to farm the land and they want to do it. The Minister is correct, in that if you had no stock or anything like that previously, you would qualify. I know people who are doing it. I ask the Minister to please look at the person that is taking over from his father or whoever it may be. As the Minister knows, down through the years, you had great farming fathers and the son would come along and might not be as good but they would want to improve the farm. I ask the Minister to please have a look at it.

I will talk to the Deputy about the specifics of this case afterwards because it may be the farm partnership that is the impediment here. New entrants to farming who did not have any livestock the previous winter are eligible to apply for the slurry scheme on that basis. That is probably an anomaly in one way. We have no shortage of farmers applying for TAMS. We had 8,000 applications in the last tranche. I got an increase in my capital budget for TAMS of €88 million for this year, but demand is off the charts.

That is no good to the farmer who cannot get it.

From that perspective, it is there for the many who do and can avail of it. On a general level, you cannot have a situation where you are applying for TAMS to make yourself legally compliant when you are not compliant. That is the challenge of it, but new entrants can do it. If it is a partnership, maybe that is the challenge on this one.