Minister Coveney said he had “received informal approval from the commission for the inclusion of a specific scheme for investment for tillage farmers and also for the inclusion of sheep fencing as an investment item under the existing TAMS scheme”.

Mr Coveney said he had received a specific request from tillage farmers to try and put a tillage TAMS in place.

“I’m very conscious it’s been difficult number of years in terms of pricing for tillage farmers. We’ve worked for the last six months to get approval from the commission which is now there for that scheme,” he added.

The scheme is expected to be launched in the coming weeks.