Roscommon IFA rural development chairman Donal Greene has welcomed Agriculture Minister Simon Coveney’s decision to extend the deadline for the Targeted Agricultural Modernisation Scheme (TAMS 1).
The deadline has been extended to September 14.
Mr Greene said that the previous deadline was too tight for farmers to get work completed and had placed them under pressure.
IFA had called on the Minister to allow flexibility in relation to the completion date for TAMS I investments, as many farmers have been finding it difficult to finish their work by the end of August.
Mr Greene said that the main element where there is a difficulty is the dairy equipment, sheep fencing and farm safety schemes.
In many cases, approvals to proceed have only recently been issued and the timescale to finish work was too short, he said.
Mr Greene said that maximum flexibility is needed to ensure that the €12.5m available for TAMS I, 85 per cent of which is EU funding, is not lost to farmers.
