Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Martin Heydon has today (Monday, May 25) confirmed that ranking and selection will be applied to applications submitted under tranche 11 of the Targeted Agricultural Modernisation Scheme (TAMS 3).

The minister said that priority will be given to applications under farm safety and nutrient storage schemes.

Similar to previous tranches, 100% of eligible applications under the farm safety scheme will again be selected under tranche 11.

Minister Heydon said this is in acknowledgement of the huge importance of farm safety on all farms.

The minister also confirmed that 75% of all eligible applications for nutrient storage measures will be selected under this tranche.

TAMS

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

A total of 63,754 applications were submitted in the first 11 tranches of TAMS 3.

Tranche 11 closed for applications on March 6, 2026 with 4,452 applications submitted across all schemes.

A further 2,216 applications were rolled over from tranche 10.

"TAMS 3 continues to be a very successful scheme with a huge number of applications received, some three times the number received compared to a similar period for TAMS II and payments of over €161 million already issued to farmers for investments made on their holdings.

"I have decided to apply ranking and selection to tranche 11 of TAMS 3," Minister Heydon said.

Ranking and selection

Minister Heydon said the selection decisions for tranche 11 placed an increased emphasis on nutrient storage measures.

"For this tranche, 75% of all eligible applications for nutrient storage investments will be selected.

"In addition, I will introduce changes to the ranking and selection criteria to ensure that all eligible applications for nutrient storage investments in future tranches will be prioritised.

"Both of these decisions underline my commitment to supporting the sector in meeting the challenges related to improving water quality," he said.

Ranking and selection will be applied at the following rates across each scheme to manage the number of approvals under tranche 11:

Solar Capital Investment Scheme (SCIS) – 10% selection;
Low Emission Slurry Spreading Scheme (LESS) - 10% selection;
Animal Welfare Nutrient Storage Scheme (AWNSS) - 75% selection;
Women Farmer Capital Investment Scheme (WFCIS) - 75% selection;
Young Farmer Capital Investment Scheme (YFCIS) - 75% selection;
Organic Farmer Capital Investment Scheme (OFCIS) - 75% selection;
Dairy Equipment Scheme (DES) - 20% selection;
Pig & Poultry Investment Scheme (PPIS) - 75% selection;
Tillage Capital Investment Scheme (TCIS) - 70% selection;
Farm Safety Capital Investment Scheme (FSCIS) - 100% selection.

Nutrient storage

Minister Heydon announced the introduction of an amendment to the ranking and selection criteria for nutrient storage investments, which will apply to applications submitted in the tranche opening on June 20, 2026.

Nutrient storage investments which will attract additional marks in future tranches under AWNSS, Organic Capital Investment Scheme (OCIS), Young Farmer Capital Investment Scheme (YFCIS) and Women Farmer Capital Investment Scheme (WFCIS) are as follows:

Silage effluent tank;
Square or rectangular tank;
L -shaped tank;
T -shaped tank;
U-shaped tank;
H-shaped tank;
Double H-shaped tank;
+ Shaped tank;
Doughnut-shaped tank;
Precast concrete tank, including cover;
Circular slurry stores;
Geomembrane lined stores;
Manure pit.

Minister Heydon said the proposed changes, which will be shared with the CAP Strategic Plan (CSP) Monitoring Committee.

TAMS closing dates

Minister Heydon has also confirmed that he is extending the closing date for tranche 12 of TAMS to mid-June.

"To ensure farmers and their advisors have sufficient time to resubmit applications that were not successful in tranche 11, I will extend the closing date of the current tranche to June 19, 2026," he said.

The 2026 TAMS 3 tranche closing dates are now as follows:

Tranche 12: June 19, 2026;
Tranche 13: September 4, 2026;
Tranche 14: December 4, 2026.