Farmers in Co. Donegal received the most Farm Assist payments compared to any other county in 2023, according to latest figures from the Minister for Rural and Community Development, Heather Humphreys.
A total of 907 farmers in Co. Donegal received the payments last year.
Overall there were 3,985 farmers country-wide who received the means-tested payment for low-income farmers in 2023, the latest figures show.
According to Minister Humphreys there are on average, 3,700 Farm Assist claims in payment at present and the Government has allocated €50.92 million for the scheme in 2024.
In response to a parliamentary question tabled by the Fianna Fail TD for Galway West, Éamon Ó Cuív, on the number of farmers who had received Farm Assist payments between 2019 and 2023 the minister highlighted that “the numbers on the scheme are declining”.
She said this was “primarily as a result of the ageing profile of the customers”.
Source: Department of Social Protection
Minister Humphreys also told Deputy Ó Cuív that the scheme is “demand led” and that farmers claiming the payment “tend to exit the scheme straight to a pension scheme”.
She added: “Farm Assist claimants can also move to the Rural Social Scheme, which provides a supplementary income for low-income farmers aged 25 years or over.
“Participants work 19.5 hours per week providing services that benefit rural communities and receive a top-up on their social welfare payment.
“Eligibility for participation in the Rural Social Scheme derives from Farm Assist, with the Farm Assist means assessment applying to the scheme. Over 45% of Rural Social Scheme participants were previously in receipt of Farm Assist”.
Farm Assist
According to the Minister for Rural and Community Development she has “made a number of improvements to the scheme in recent years”.
She detailed that under the Farm Assist means test, income from a range of agri-environmental schemes “attracts a disregard of €5,000, which I increased from €2,540 from January 2023, with 50% of the balance assessed as means”.
Since the beginning of this month (June 2024) any child maintenance that farmers are entitled to is also no longer included in the means test.