Letters of offer have now been issued to all successful Tier 1 applicants to the capital grant element of the Farm Business Improvement Scheme.

A DAERA spokesperson told the Irish Farmers Journal this week that 1,521 letters of offer have been sent to successful applicants by delivery agent, Countryside Services. The total grant funding offered equates to the £7.5m budget available for the first tranche of Tier 1.

With around 3,500 Tier 1 applications received last December, approximately 2,000 applicants have missed out on the 40% grant funding for projects in the first tranche of scheme.

Letters are being sent to the unsuccessful applicants by Countryside Services from this week onwards.

Tier 2

It was also confirmed this week that 189 applications were received by DAERA for the first tranche of the Tier 2 capital grant scheme.

The DAERA spokesperson said that a breakdown of applications across the various farming sectors could not be provided at this stage. However, it is understood that the majority of Tier 2 applications are from the poultry sector.

It is unclear how many Tier 2 applicants will receive funding from the £25m budget and when construction work will begin on the first projects. “When eligibility checks have been completed, applicants will receive notification on the status of their application and associated timelines,” the spokesperson said.