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On Tuesday, Minister Creed told the Dáil that the Department of Agriculture was waiting on 9,000 Targeted Modernisation Scheme (TAMS) payment applications from farmers.
These farmers have received approval from the department to commence work on a TAMS approved project but have not yet completed the project and claimed payment.
The department has committed an estimated €172m to funding TAMS since 2015, but so far only €23.7m of this has been allocated to 1,682 approved farmers.
Minister Creed encouraged farmers to make their payment claim as soon as possible.
"I would strongly urge all approved participants in the scheme who have completed their approved works to submit their payment claims to the online system so that payments can issue without delay."
Cash-strapped
However, the slowness with which farmers are committing to pay for TAMS-approved projects, and the rapid consumption of the low-cost loans earlier in the year, would indicate that farmers are concerned about their cashflow. According to Teagasc, farm incomes dropped by 9% last year.
Today marks the final day to apply for the eighth tranche of TAMS.
The next tranche will open on 7 October. Under the scheme, farmers are eligible to apply for grants of 40% on farm investments and qualified young trained farmers can receive grants up to 60% on TAMS-approved projects.
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