Vol. 361 No. 13
asked the Minister for Social Welfare the number of farmers nationally who have been factually assessed for unemployment assistance since PLV was declared unconstitutional by the High Court; the number whose benefit has been increased, reduced, terminated or unaltered as a result of being factually assessed; and the cost or saving to the Exchequer.
22.
asked the Minister for Social Welfare the number of farmers in County Donegal who have been factually assessed for unemployment assistance since PLV was declared unconstitutional by the High Court; the number whose benefit has been increased, reduced, terminated or unaltered as a result of being factually assessed; and the cost or saving to the Exchequer.
I propose to take Questions Nos. 7 and 22 together. Following the High Court ruling arrangements were made to have the means of all nationally assessed smallholders assessed on a factual basis. The factual assessment exercise was commenced in May 1983 and up to the end of October 1985 a total of 10,554 smallholders were assessed of whom 962 were in Donegal. The number of cases remaining to be assessed at the end of October was 79. There were no outstanding cases in Donegal.
The result of the factual assessment was that payment was increased in 3,118 cases, reduced in 4,327 cases, terminated in 3,089 cases and remained unaltered in 20 cases The corresponding figures for Donegal which have been extracted from the total figures just mentioned are 461 cases of increased payment, 358 cases of reduced payment, 140 cases in which payment was terminated and three cases where there was no change.
As regards the expenditure effects of the change-over to factual assessment, the position is that expenditure budgeted for unemployment assistance for smallholders this year at £37.84 million is considerably higher than the £34.34 million spent in 1982, the last complete year in which payment was made on the notional basis of assessment. The increased expenditure combined with the lower numbers in receipt of payment means that the average payment to recipients has increased considerably.
A desirable effect of the system of factual assessment of means is that it ensures that the available funds are concentrated on those most in need. In addition the change-over to factual assessment ensures that all smallholders receiving unemployment assistance are now entitled to annual budget increases which they did not receive while notionally assessed.
The Minister of State has stated that in the factual assessment 4,327 small farmers had their unemployment assistance reduced. Many of these farmers, some of whom are known personally to me, have probably fewer than half a dozen cattle and in many instances one or two cows. In view of the particularly difficult season we have had, weatherwise and so on, would he consider relaxing the means test or at least give consideration to the extra expenses incurred by these small farmers to buy feedingstuff, etc., to get them through the coming winter?
The Deputy will be aware that under the scheme it is open to recipients of unemployment assistance if they feel their means have worsened since their previous assessment to apply for reassessment. I suggest that they do that, if, as the Deputy stated, their income has decreased and their expenditure has increased.
A shorter question.
One difficulty with appeals is that some appeals take anything up to a year to process. First of all there is an appeal, then——
That is giving information. The Deputy will have to ask a short question.
Can the Minister of State give any undertaking that appeal time can be shortened? At the moment it takes from six to nine months for an appeal to go through.
I did not advise the Deputy that they should appeal. I advised him that they should look for re-examination of their position which would not in the first instance be an appeal and which would be a much shorter process.
