Ruairi Quinn (Dublin South East, Labour) | Oireachtas source

The history to this goes back a long time and is probably no longer true. I have been told clearly by the Irish Creamery Milk Suppliers Association, ICMSA, and the IFA that accountancy standards for farm income and small businesses are different from what they were ten or 15 years ago. It was an urban or rural myth that PAYE creamery workers across the country could not get grants for their children to attend college whereas self-employed dairy farmers could because they could allegedly manipulate their incomes. However, the current levels of compliance with accountancy standards are quite different from what they were in the past. This is a debate upon which no decision has yet been made.