Oireachtas Joint and Select Committees

Wednesday, 17 April 2024

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Social Protection

Impact of Means Testing on Farm Assist and Other Social Welfare Schemes: Discussion

Mr. Hugh Farrell:

I think the Chair summed it up very well and identified it. The big issue here is, the farmers are placing their full trust in a third party, which the Chair identified a minute ago. That could be to get their reports or different figures and showing what returns and costs they have. That third party is only getting them so much information because it is under pressure to try to do it in time. It is not being done right. This is where we need to change all of this, simplify it and go back to the net and the overall costs. If they base it on the net, they will see what their farmers are turning in a year. This will cover that because it is built into it in most cases, so that is what we need to go back to. We have to remove all this and, to be honest, we need to look at the pilot scheme for basic universal income and bring that on board. We welcome those thoughts.

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