Solar panels in TAMS
Deputy O'Meara raised farmers' difficulty accessing TAMS support for solar panels and asked that they be prioritised in the next funding round. The Taoiseach said the Cabinet had discussed the issue, noted strong demand, and said the relevant Ministers would try to resolve it.
I have been contacted by farmers across north Tipperary and north-west Kilkenny, who are currently finding it difficult to access funding under the targeted agricultural modernisation scheme, TAMS, for the installation of solar panels on their farm buildings. A recent parliamentary question reply stated that the solar capital investment scheme has been hugely popular with farmers wishing to invest in renewable energy, thereby reducing their dependence on fossil fuels. That same reply from the Minister, Deputy Heydon, stated that between 2023 and 2025 over €4.5 million was paid to farmers to get solar panels on their farms, which is really good news. However, in the current climate of rising costs for diesel and electricity, falling prices for farmers and the need to reduce carbon emissions, the installation of solar panels on farm buildings really is low-hanging fruit. Therefore, my two questions to Government are: first, will we see an increase in the percentage in TAMS funding in the next tranche for the installation of solar panels on farm buildings? Second, can farmers who have been refused recently-----
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-----be prioritised in the next round for funding?
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I know the Minister for agriculture is here but I will take it on the basis that this morning, the Cabinet had a discussion on this issue, acknowledging, first of all, the significant take-up of TAMS by farmers in respect of solar. More than 20% of the expenditure overall, out of €160 million, has been on the solar capital investment scheme. That shows there is a real hunger there among farmers.
The Minister, Deputy Darragh O'Brien, is engaging with the Minister for agriculture. They will try to work it out together and then we will go to the Minister for public expenditure. In any event, we are onto this and I think there is an issue here. It is an issue for everybody. The more renewables we can install, we can reduce costs for users of energy and that is something we have to do at pace. TAMS is a good potential vehicle for solar but, that said, there are limits under the existing scheme because of the fact that 64,000 applications have been received to date. Three times the number was received.