Dairy Equipment Scheme

The Dairy Equipment Scheme (DES) provides grants to farmers to facilitate dairy farmers in milk production by providing them with a level of support to meet the considerable capital costs associated with establishment of their enterprise and ensuring that they have the most up-to-date technology available to compete in the modern dairy sector.

The scheme is open to farmers who have a minimum of 5 hectares declared under the Basic Payment Scheme (BPS) or the Basic Income Support for Sustainability (BISS) or equivalent in the year of application or preceding year, or in the case of intensive enterprises, generate a minimum of 20 production units from farming.

Grant aid will only be paid on approved, completed and eligible expenditure and shall be paid at the rate of 40% up to the applicable maximum investment ceiling of €90,000 per holding. In the case of an application by two or more eligible partners in a partnership registered on this department’s Register of Farm Partnership the maximum eligible investment ceiling shall be increased to €160,000. Multiple applications per tranche are permissible. However, the minimum amount of investment which is eligible for approval under this Scheme is €2,000 per application.