Michael Ring
Question:392 Mr. Ring asked the Minister for Social and Family Affairs the number of people who are currently in receipt of farm assist; and the details on a county basis. [14532/02]
Written Answers. - Social Welfare Benefits.
Michael Ring
Question:393 Mr. Ring asked the Minister for Social and Family Affairs the number of people in receipt of farm assist who have been assessed or reassessed in the past 12 months; the number of people who had their payable rate reduced or stopped from these assessments; the number who had their payable rate increased; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [14533/02]
I propose to take Questions Nos. 392 and 393 together.
The farm assist scheme, which introduced special arrangements for farmers on low incomes, was provided for in the Social Welfare Act, 1999, and came into operation with effect from 7 April 1999. Currently, there are 8,345 people in receipt of farm assist. An approximate breakdown by county is provided in the following table.
The information requested regarding the number of cases where payment was reduced or increased following review is not readily available. A special programme must be written to extract the relevant information from the Department's computer database for the period in question. Arrangements will be made to provide the Deputy with the results of this analysis as soon as possible. Where payment has been reduced or stopped, the decision of the deciding officer may be appealed to the independent social welfare appeal office. The scheme has brought about a worthwhile improvement for low income farmers and particularly for those with children. The scheme clearly makes a valuable contribution to supporting those who are at the lower end of the farm income spectrum.
The following table shows a breakdown by county of current farm assist recipients. It is not 100% accurate as it has been compiled from data that is maintained on a local office catchment area basis and these do not correspond exactly with county boundaries.
|
County |
Number |
|
Carlow |
68 |
|
Cavan |
315 |
|
Clare |
466 |
|
Cork |
567 |
|
Donegal |
1,188 |
|
Dublin |
11 |
|
Galway |
874 |
|
Kerry |
692 |
|
Kildare |
42 |
|
Kilkenny |
110 |
|
Laois |
88 |
|
Leitrim |
240 |
|
Limerick |
231 |
|
Longford |
114 |
|
Louth |
59 |
|
Mayo |
1,566 |
|
Meath |
59 |
|
Monaghan |
388 |
|
Offaly |
74 |
|
Roscommon |
348 |
|
Sligo |
329 |
|
Tipperary |
210 |
|
Waterford |
44 |
|
Westmeath |
90 |
|
Wexford |
131 |
|
Wicklow |
41 |
|
Total |
8,345 |