Fianna Fáil TD for Cavan-Monaghan Brendan Smith has said that he is appalled at delays farmers in Cavan and Monaghan are experiencing in receiving their Targeted Agricultural Modernisation Scheme (TAMS) II payment.

At the moment, there are 642 farmers across the two counties awaiting payment despite being approved by the Department of Agriculture.

“Farmers right across the county are very angry at the inexcusable delays in issuing TAMS payments.  A total of 976 farmers in Cavan and Monaghan applied for the scheme, with 723 being approved. However, by the 11th September, just 81 had been approved for payment”, explained Deputy Smith.

“The delay in TAMS payments is representative of wider problems within the Departments payments system. These delays are also being experienced by farmers who have applied to the GLAS scheme.

“These massive IT problems within the Department have led to significant frustration among farmers who had applied for funds – ultimately leading them to abandon their applications altogether.

“Fianna Fáil has recently exposed how 92% of TAMS 2 funding (€389m) remains unspent at the midway point of the Rural Development Programme 2014-20. This is a shocking state of affairs.

“Farmers are stressed out wondering when they will get their payments.  Many of them are under serious financial strain, urgently needing these payments to ensure that bills are paid”, concluded Deputy Smith.