Farmers with approvals to complete building works or purchase specialised equipment through the Targeted Agricultural Modernisation Scheme (TAMS II) now have a longer window to do so.

This follows the Department of Agriculture announcement of extensions to current deadlines.

Farmers can review the deadline date by checking the approval documentation issued by post, or by logging into the TAMS II portal

Firstly, there is a three-month extension on all projects due to be completed (or approvals due to expire) between 1 March 2020 and 1 July 2020.

Farmers can review the deadline date by checking the approval documentation issued by post, or by logging into the TAMS II portal through the Department of Agriculture’s agfood portal, if this documentation is not readily to hand.

This can be completed by clicking on the TAMS II scheme, for which approval has been granted. This will then display a screen detailing what applications have been made, including those that are approved, approvals that have expired or those that are pending approval.

If you click on the circle to the left of the application, it will show the application type, application date, status description, status date and completion date as demonstrated in here:

The completion date is the important column to check. The application shown in above is eligible for a three-month extension to complete works.

Payment claims

The window for submitting payment claims has also been extended. The Department is allowing a three-month extension on outstanding TAMS payment claims for projects to be completed by 1 July 2020.

A derogation has been granted allowing the applicant to submit their payment claim without completing the course

The granting of payment was also dependent on completion of a health and safety course.

Due to coronavirus restrictions on gatherings and the postponement of these courses, a derogation has been granted allowing the applicant to submit their payment claim without completing the course.

The derogation is currently proposed for a three month window and applicants will be due to complete a course once they resume.

Tranche 17

The closing date for Tranche 17 of TAMS has been deferred from 24 April to 5 June.

This has been granted to facilitate the requirement of agents to meet face-to-face with applicants, where required, to complete applications.

As TAMS II operates on a tranche basis, this will also push back approvals in this tranche until later in the year.

As such, some applicants may need to make alternative arrangements where they are banking on approval for completion of works.