Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 11 February 2014
104. Deputy Thomas Pringle asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine if his Department was consulted in relation to the changes in the means testing of eligibility for the farm assist scheme in budget 2013 by the Department of Social Protection; his views on the impact the changes have made to farm income; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [6346/14]
View answerThe Farm Assist scheme is the responsibility of the Minister for Social Protection. The changes to the Farm Assist scheme were made in order to bring the scheme into closer alignment with the Jobseeker's Allowance scheme's treatment of self-employed persons, and were part of the overall package of measures agreed by the Government in Budget 2013. There were over 10,800 recipients of Farm Assist in 2013, with total expenditure of almost €100 million. The scheme is based on Jobseeker's Allowance, and was introduced in 1999 to replace the "Smallholders Unemployment Assistance" for low income farmers. Farm Assist recipients retain all the advantages of the Jobseeker's Allowance scheme, such as retention of secondary benefits and access to activation programmes.
The headline rates of Farm Assist are being maintained so that farm families with the lowest income are least affected by these changes. Farm Assist remains a flexible payment and any farmer experiencing lower levels of income or cash-flow issues, due for example to bad weather, can ask his local welfare office to review the level of means applying to his claim.
