asked the Minister for Social Welfare the total number of persons in receipt of smallholders assistance on 1 January 1983, and the number whose income was: (a) increased; and (b) decreased; and (c) the number who lost all benefit under this scheme since then.
Written Answers. - Smallholders Assistance Statistics.
54.
It is presumed that the Deputy is referring to unemployment assistance recipients whose means derived from land were notionally assessed by reference to the poor law valuation system until this notional method of assessment had to be discontinued following a High Court decision in July 1982 that sections of the Valuation Acts were unconstitutional.
Following the High Court ruling arrangements were made to have the means of all notionally assessed smallholders assessed on a factual basis. The factual assessment of smallholders was commenced in May 1983 and accordingly statistics in relation to the numbers whose unemployment assistance payments were increased, decreased or ceased are only available from that date.
In the week ended 7 January 1983 there were a total of 20,564 smallholders in receipt of unemployment assistance. The position at the end of January 1986 is that following review payment of unemployment assistance was increased in 3,136 cases, reduced in 4,350 cases and was discontinued in 3,093 cases.
All smallholders in receipt of unemployment assistance are now entitled to annual budget increases which they did not receive while notionally assessed.