The data on farm household income requested by the Deputy are not available. The CSO and Teagasc publish detailed information each year on income from farming, but no such annual information is published on the income received by farm households from off farm sources. I have asked both bodies to address this important gap in the information available to us.
The last complete information on farm household income was that published in the household budget survey for 1994-95. This showed that the average gross household income of farm households was £18,582, compared to £15,055 for other rural households and £18,951 for urban households. The survey also showed that 47% of farm household income came from off-farm sources.
Teagasc's national farm survey provides an estimate of the proportion of farmers, or their spouses, in the sample working off-farm. The results for the last five years show a rising proportion of farmers or spouses with off-farm employment. The figures are as follows: