The Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Martin Heydon, has told Dáil Éireann that the Young Farmer Capital Investment Scheme (TAMS 3) retains cow number restrictions linked to certain milking machine investments and that grant recoupment provisions will apply where the conditions are not met.
Scheme targets green investment and farm efficiency
Speaking during a Dáil debate, Minister Heydon said the European Commission requires that investment interventions under the current Common Agricultural Policy strategic plans be concentrated on environmental measures. He said Ireland’s needs assessment for its CAP strategic plan identified a need to increase environmental efficiency on farms through on-farm investment and new technologies, while also supporting young farmers’ access to finance and improving animal health, welfare and farm safety.
The Minister set out that the cow number restriction applies only to two specific investments under the milking machine category: robotic milking machines and cluster units. He explained the application requirement for certain herd sizes and the recoupment approach where the agreed limit is breached.
“Only farmers with between 121 and 160 dairy cows are required to submit a 'herd expansion limitation letter' at the time of [their] application to confirm that they will not expand their herds for the relevant period. If this agreement is breached and the dairy herd size increased during five years post payment of grant-aid for milking machine investments, recoupment of grant aid will be applied.” — Martin Heydon, Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine
Who must declare and what happens if limits are breached
Minister Heydon said that farmers with herd sizes between 121 and 160 dairy cows must submit a ‘herd expansion limitation letter’ when applying for the two qualifying milking-machine investments. Where the agreement is breached and herd size increases within five years of grant payment, recoupment of the grant aid will be applied.
- Applies to: robotic milking machines and cluster units
- Declaration required: farmers with 121–160 dairy cows
- Recoupment period: five years post payment of grant aid
The Minister described these conditions as aligning TAMS 3 with government priorities to deliver environmental public goods and to encourage investment that raises environmental efficiency on farms.
| Action | Requirement |
|---|---|
| Application declaration | Herd expansion limitation letter for 121–160 cow herds |
| Investments covered | Robotic milking machines; cluster units |
| Post-payment condition | Recoupment applied if herd size increases within five years |
The Minister’s comments were made in response to questions from Deputy Michael Cahill, who asked whether TAMS 3’s herd-size limits and grant recoupment provisions had been assessed to ensure young dairy farmers would not be unfairly penalised for expanding after investing in milking infrastructure.
Minister Heydon emphasised that the scheme seeks to balance enabling young farmers to invest with delivering environmental and welfare outcomes demanded by the CAP strategic plan.
