The Department of Agriculture has confirmed to the IFA that the reference costs of completing building work through the Targeted Agricultural Modernisation Scheme (TAMS) will increase.

Speaking to the Irish Farmers Journal, Joe Brady, the rural development chair, said it has been something they have been trying to achieve over the past few months. “It has been an ongoing issue with costs, the cost of labour and materials have gone up, but the Department's reference costs had stayed the same,” Joe explained. “When it comes to machinery costs they seem to be fairly accurate, but it's the farm buildings where the biggest discrepancies exist.”

Grant aid

The reference costs are used to calculate the level of grant aid that a farmer will receive on an investment completed through TAMS. For example, if the overall reference cost of a building was €20,000 and you got grant aid of 40%, this would equate to €8,000 in grant aid. However, if the reference costs increase to €23,000, for example, then the 40% grant aid would increase to €9,200.

According to Brady, the increased reference costs will only apply to farmers who joined for the current tranche of TAMS, which began on 7 September.

“A lot of applications are made near the closing date of a tranche, so there could be a lot of farmers who miss out,” Brady explains. “We looked at the possibility that the approval date could be used as opposed to the application date, or that a date earlier than 7 September could be used.”

Currently no confirmation by the Department has been given as to what investments will see their reference costs increased.