Tier 1 grants oversubscribed: over 3,500 applications received

A late surge in applications before last Friday’s deadline has meant that Tier 1 of the Farm Business Improvement Scheme (FBIS) is likely to be significantly oversubscribed.

By the deadline of last Friday, over 3,500 Tier 1 applications were received, compared with just over 1,000 applications in the system by the early part of the week.

There is £7.5m of funding for Tier 1 in the first tranche of the scheme, with a 40% grant worth between £2,000 and £12,000 per application.

A DAERA spokesperson indicated to the Irish Farmers Journal that it would be early in the new year before all applications are processed and the exact amount of funding applied for is known. However, given the amount of funding available, the number of successful applicants is likely to be around the 2,000 mark.

The fact that it is oversubscribed means grant allocation will come down to ranking using the points-based selection criteria, with different marks awarded depending on the item claimed, value-for-money, etc.

The Department has said that letters of offer and a form of acceptance will be sent to successful applicants from the end of January. After this, applicants have 28 days to sign and return the form if they want to proceed.

Projects must then be completed within the timeframe stated in the letter of offer and have to be paid for in full before grant funding can be claimed. DAERA has also put in place a penalty matrix to discourage underspend with the scheme. Someone who does not follow through on the offer could find themselves excluded from future tranches of the scheme.

Meanwhile, farmers can now apply to Tier 2 of the scheme, aimed at lager-scale investments over £30,000.

Grants are available for 40% of costs up to a maximum grant of £250,000 and the first tranche closes to applications at 4pm on 24 February 2017.

In total, a budget of £40m has been provided by the Stormont Executive to cover the first two tranches of both tiers of the scheme (£15m for Tier 1; £25m for Tier 2).

However, up to £200m of funding is potentially available, but further release of money will depend on the uptake of the first two tranches of both tiers.