First approvals under the Farm Safety Scheme will begin in two or three weeks. That is the understanding of IFA following a meeting it had with Department of Agriculture staff this week. If so, this would make the processing of this scheme the quickest ever carried out by the Department. Fast approvals would be welcomed by the 6,300 farmers who applied.

“Because of the importance of farm safety, the Department is anxious to get applications processed quickly and approvals out,” IFA rural development chairman Flo McCarthy, who attended the meeting, said.

He also received indications that the long-awaited TAMS 2 scheme will open in mid-March with priority given to dairy equipment, young farmers, organic farmers and a follow-on safety scheme. A second safety scheme would be open to all farmers including cattle and beef producers. McCarthy now wants the Department to speed up approvals for farmers waiting over a year after applying to other TAMS I schemes.