Agriculture Schemes Seanad Éireann — 2026-05-06 ============================================================ Martin Heydon (FG), Kildare South I get that point. TAMS covers the period of the CAP, so our CAP funding and CAP schemes all run until the end of 2027. This opened in 2023. We are negotiating a new CAP. I do not know whether that will be ready or in place by 2027. Decisions on whether there will be a TAMS beyond that will depend on how much funding I have and how I am able to target it. I threw a lot of figures at the Senator in my initial response. However, it is important to reflect here that, in simple terms, there is a massive increase in the number of farmers applying across all elements of TAMS 3 compared with TAMS 2. Yes, there are more disappointed farmers because more have applied. I have a very significant budget to expend - it was €90 million last year and is similar again this year - but I have to meet all of my policy objectives throughout this term, such as generational renewal an nutrient storage at a rate of 60% rate because we know how important the nitrates derogation is to farmers in County Kerry as well as throughout the country. Farm safety is a key element of the investments that farmers are making in livestock facilities because we want to keep those farmers safe as well. We continue to review this. I would love to be able to do even more. TAMS is the type of investment that has a long-lasting benefit. That is why I want to continue to be able to do provide it. However, at a time when I have to manage that budget out to the end of 2027, I have to introduce ranking selection to make sure policy priorities are reflected as well. --- Source: Houses of the Oireachtas. Licensed under CC BY 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). The Official Report is revised after first publication; the fetch timestamp below identifies the version quoted. Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/seanad/2026-05-06/debate/main Retrieved: 2026-08-14T04:54:54+00:00 Sitting date: 2026-05-06