Payments totalling €9.8 million have issued to applicants under the Women Farmer Capital Investment Scheme (WFCIS).

The WFCIS is one of the Targeted Agricultural Modernisation Schemes (TAMS 3).

Grant aid is paid on approved, completed and eligible expenditure, at the rate of 60% up to the applicable maximum investment ceiling of €90,000 per holding.

TAMS 3 provides grants to farmers to build and/or improve a specified range of farm buildings and equipment on their holdings.

All investments must be linked to climate, environment or animal welfare.

Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Martin Heydon has said that TAMS 3 has been "hugely successful" to date, with a total of 2,650 applications received under the WFCIS as of March 4.

"Of these, payments totalling €9.8 million have issued in respect of 680 applicants who have completed their investment and submitted valid claims, with payments continuing to issue on a weekly basis," Minister Heydon said.

Ranking and selection

The minister was responding to a question from Wexford TD George Lawlor. The deputy asked the minister why a certain application to the WFCIS was refused.

The minister said the person submitted an application for grant aid in tranche 9, which closed for applications in September 2025.

"It was necessary to apply ranking and selection to tranche 9 of TAMS 3, due to the very high number of applications submitted during that tranche period," the minister said.

"Following the selection process, which took place in December, the person named failed to meet the qualifying mark compared to all other applications submitted under the WFCIS.

"Their application will now go forward to tranche 10, and will again undergo the ranking and selection process."

Tranche 10

Minister Heydon recently confirmed that ranking and selection will continue to be applied to TAMS applications received.

"Being mindful of the budgetary constraints, I have decided, similar to tranche 9, to apply ranking and selection to tranche 10, due to the huge number of applications received, which is three times the number received over the equivalent period of TAMS 2," the minister explained.

Similar to tranche 9, the minister said that priority will be given to applications under farm safety and nutrient storage schemes.

7,906 applications were received by the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (DAFM) for tranche 10, which closed on December 5.

This brings the total number of applications received in the first ten tranches under TAMS 3 to 59,302.