Department of Agriculture admits major TAMS error

Agricultural advisers were left frustrated last week after the Department of Agriculture revealed, with just 24 hours’ notice, that over 1,300 Targeted Agricultural Modernisation Scheme (TAMS) applications would not be automatically rolled over into the current tranche of the scheme. The announcement, made at the Agricultural Consultants Association (ACA) AGM, confirmed that 1,340 TAMS III applications unsuccessful in tranches nine and ten had been reset to ‘draft’ status and required re-submission by the following day, Friday 6 March, the closing date for tranche 11. The last-minute nature of the notification caused significant concern among advisers, who were left scrambling to process a large volume of applications under severe time pressure.