TAMS action to aid Storm Éowyn clean up

The Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine has leveraged its Targeted Agricultural Modernisation Scheme (TAMS 3) to provide support to farmers dealing with the aftermath of Storm Éowyn.

Announced by the Minister of Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Martin Heydon on Thursday, March 6, supports have been made available to farmers under TAMS 3 in response to the unprecedented damage caused by Storm Éowyn.

This support, which is being made available through a new, focused tranche to come into effect in mid-March, focuses on specific items such as: backup PTO generators; sheep, cattle and horse fencing; wood/biomass chippers; and mulchers, and will be other to applications from March 8 2025 through to March 28 2025. The regular tranche, which will cater for all TAMS applications, will open immediately thereafter on 29 March and will close on the previously advised date of 6 June 2025 and there will be no impact on agreed timelines.

Minister Heydon said: “In acknowledgement of the urgency of the support required, I have decided to open a new TAMS tranche for a three-week period to deal specifically with storm-related damage on farms.”

He continued: “Considering the recent power outages arising from storm damage, I have reviewed the scope of generators supported by TAMS to include all generators, irrespective of the drive mechanism. The grant is targeted at the generator rather than the drive mechanism.

“While these generators are included as an investment item under the Dairy Equipment Scheme, the investment is open to all farmers who declare the minimum eligibility requirement of five hectares under the Basic Income Support for Sustainability (BISS) Scheme in the year of application, or preceding year. There is no requirement to be milking cows to be eligible for backup generators under the scheme.

“In addition, with the clean-up ongoing, there is increased demand for woodchippers and mulchers. These are both mobile investments and, as such, a farmer is permitted to purchase the equipment, at their own risk, once they have submitted an online application. The application will then proceed through the normal process,” the Minister added.

For further details, visit the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine’s webpage.