The sheer volume of applications being received for investment under the Targeted Agriculture Modernisation Scheme (TAMS) is off the charts, Minister for Agriculture Martin Heydon has said.

The Department of Agriculture has received over 8,000 applications from farmers under the latest tranche of TAMS, according to the Minister. The equivalent figure, on average, per tranche of TAMS II was around 3,000.

Speaking in front of the Oireachtas agriculture committee on Wednesday, the Minister said that this level of demand is affecting approval turnarounds.

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Ranking and selection is now in play under tranche nine of TAMS III in order to deal with the current level of applications.

Previous tranches under TAMS III, which has been in place for three years now, had seen no ranking and selection take place, with all eligible applications approved.

Positive year

A financially positive year across many farm sectors in 2025 has been a key driver of the current interest from farmers, according to the Minister.

"It's not hugely surprising. As farmers are profiling what their tax bills might look like, it can encourage them to have more capital expenditure, rather than giving it to the tax man," he said.

The Minister told the committee that he would "love to see" quicker approvals.

"The challenges we have with TAMS are demand. It's a demand-led scheme. When pressure comes on by an increased amount of applications for this funding, we have to make sure that TAMS is delivering for the key targeted measure," he said.

Generational renewal

"If you talk about issues like generational renewal, I don't think there's a better programme than TAMS for investment in that.

"There's a lot of things we pay money on - like livestock schemes and that's just one year - the money is in and then it's gone. TAMS is either in equipment or a building that will be there for years to come," Minister Heydon said.