Move on TAMS Costings Doesn’t Go Far Enough

IFA Rural Development Chairman Michael Biggins has acknowledged the move by the Dept of Agriculture to revise the costings for TAMS, but said it doesn’t go far enough.

“We are seeing an unprecedented rise in inflation, meaning the price of building materials such as steel and timber has soared. The old costings, which were updated as far back as March 2021, were completely out of line with the price of materials today, making it impossible for farmers to begin their projects,” he said.

Michael Biggins said the Dept current system of revising costs is not working and is not able to cope with the pace of changes in the price of materials.

He called on the Minister for Agriculture Charlie McConalogue to establish a system to review costings before the opening of each tranche while this high level of inflation continues.

“The war in Ukraine has stretched supply chains to breaking point.  Farmers are being forced to work with reference costs which are not keeping pace with events impacting on their costs. It means they won’t receive a rate of grant that is reflective of the actual cost of investment incurred,” Michael Biggins concluded.