The Department of Agriculture is currently reviewing the reference costs of certain investments, the Irish Farmers Journal understands.

This has been prompted due to increasing labour and materials costs over the past year. This has seen advisors and builders note that reference costs are out of line, in particular in relation to building work where labour forms a large part of the total costs.

Builders have experienced a difficulty in sourcing skilled labour over the past year due to the high demand from the construction sector for workers.

A review of the reference costs in October saw only 18 items increasing, the majority of which was machinery available through the scheme. Payment rates for own labour also increased from €12.40/hour to €13.50/hour in the review.