Jim O'Keeffe
Question:130 Mr. J. O'Keeffe asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and Forestry the average family farm income for all farms in Ireland for the years 1992 and 1993.
Written Answers. - Average Farm Income.
In compliance with EU regulations 79/65/EEC on the Farm Accountancy Data Network (FADN) family farm incomes are estimated by Teagasc in its National Farm Survey. This annual survey relies on a random sample of 1,400 farms, where accounts are kept under the supervision of Teagasc personnel, to represent approximately 160,000 family farms. These accounts are then analysed and the results published each year giving estimates of input costs and output prices for different categories of farms. The results of the 1993 survey are not yet available.
From the survey Teagasc estimate that average family farm income for 1991 was £5,955 and for 1992 £7,172. It must be noted that, as is pointed out in the survey, this includes part time and full time farms and does not take account of off-farm or land rental income.
A full picture of farm household income, both from farm and off-farm sources will be provided by the 1994 Household Budget Survey by the Central Statistics Office which will start this year. Results from this survey should become available during 1995.