Christopher O'Sullivan (Cork South West, Fianna Fail)
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110. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine if he will consider expanding the number of equine groups partaking in the discussions on the exact entry criteria and equine-specified facilities that will apply to the TAM 2 grant; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [53164/22]

Charlie McConalogue (Donegal, Fianna Fail)
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The Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine has engaged extensively with all stakeholders on the future of the CAP and on the development of the CAP Strategic Plan (CSP) 2023-2027 including various groups within the equine sector.

TAMS has been a hugely successful helping to drive on-farm improvements in every county across the country. To date under the CAP expenditure, TAMS has exceeded €377m. Payments under the scheme continue to issue on an ongoing basis. TAMS continues to be a hugely successful and beneficial scheme and I am delighted that it will continue in 2023 with a stronger emphasis on environmental investments.

The Department has carefully considered all submissions relating to grant-aided investments and the investment list is currently being finalised. To aid equine farmers, I am proposing to make changes to the TAMS scheme from 2023 onwards.

The changes are subject to approval of the Rural Development Plan (RDP) amendment by the European Commission. The amendment is currently with the Monitoring Committee of the RDP for their views before its formal submission to the Commission.

TAMS is a demand-led scheme and as such reviews of investments and their uptake, along with budgetary constraints will continue to take place during the lifetime of the scheme.