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Farmers frustrated with the slow processing of TAMS payment claims have been contacting the Irish Farmers Journal.
Poultry and beef farmer Nigel Renaghan from Co Monaghan, described the procedure as “mental torture”.
He submitted a payment claim in June 2018 after upgrading a poultry shed through TAMS.
Reneghan said he has been battling with the Department of Agriculture to be paid since.
They have come back to me six or seven times, at least, looking for more documents which delays everything and puts a major financial strain on my family
“It has been mental torture having to run after the Department of Agriculture,” said Renaghan.
“Two inspectors came out and spent nearly two hours on the farm, measuring the shed and looking through the paperwork, which I have no issue with.
“But then they have come back to me six or seven times, at least, looking for more documents which delays everything and puts a major financial strain on my family,” the IFA Ulster/north Leinster regional chair said.
He called the Department’s insistence on seeing farmers’ bank statements as “out of order”.
“If you want to claim the VAT back for building work then you submit your invoices to Revenue and you will get the money paid out quickly. If invoices are good enough for Revenue, then why are they not good enough for the Department of Agriculture?” Nigel asked.
Non-stop paperwork
Seamus Fitzpatrick, a suckler farmer from Co Monaghan, has also been frustrated with the process.
He has been waiting for €17,200 in grant aid since last March for a three-bay suckler shed.
“It has been non-stop paperwork looking for certs,” Seamus said.
“We put up a shed through the grant in 2007 and it was a simple process; [but] the level of paperwork and the specifications for TAMS has just gone through the roof.”
The TAMS element of any investment will often be financed by farmers using a bridging loan from the bank, which is generally over a short term where the farmer only has to pay the interest.
However, if these loans are not paid back in the agreed time frame, then the farmer is forced to take out a term loan and begin monthly repayments, which is proving to be a major financial burden on any farm.
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