Dáil Éireann díospóireacht -
Thursday, 9 Dec 1999

Vol. 512 No. 5

Written Answers. - Farm Incomes.

Seán Ardagh

Ceist:

22 Mr. Ardagh asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and Rural Development the average farm household income for each of the past five years; and if he will make a statement on the increasing level of off-farm income in the sector. [26352/99]

Minister for Agriculture, Food and Rural Development (Mr. Walsh)

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:

1998	43.5%
1997	42.5%
1996	40.1%
1995	36.7%
1994	34.1%

The rise in off-farm employment since the household budget survey in 1994-95, strongly suggests that more than half of farm household income now comes from off-farm sources.

Many farm families are now securing their place in rural Ireland by a combination of on-farm and off-farm work, and are supported by a range of state and EU agriculture payments. I welcome this trend. The impact can be seen in the sharp decline in recent years in the proportion of farmers in relative poverty, as measured by the number with household income per person below 50% of the national average. In 1997, 13% of farm households were in this category, compared to 20% in 1994, and 33% in 1987. As I pointed out, in relation to an earlier question, farmers now have a much lower risk of being in relative poverty – 13% – than the population in general – 22%.