Ms Martina Earley:

One of the most important aspects is that we have Outreach offices in all their areas to ensure the farming community feel comfortable coming in to us in their wellies or whatever. That local engagement is key.

I was challenged by my board because the numbers relating to Tús were decreasing. Also, we were delighted with the increase in the number of rural social scheme places; we now have almost 174 in our county. We had engagement with the Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection locally and identified a need to increase the awareness of the farming community in terms of accessing the farm assist scheme. Our team came up with an app that tested the means and engaged with the farming community. Our partnership, the Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection and the IFA are now going to the marts in County Roscommon where we hold workshops and have direct engagement with people on farm assist. Farm assist now attracts a training budget that we are accessing, which is very important. The rural social scheme is key to our county and to our farming community.

Our company was delighted to be given the challenge of having a national contract for digital skills. We focus in particular on the farming community, working with the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine, because from talking to the IFA we know that the future of farming is in precision farming and digital knowledge. We have to support our farming community with digitalisation. We are on the ground to offer support in that regard. We supported more than 5,000 farmers last year, working with the IFA and Teagasc, in terms of their digital uptake.

This is a complex issue. Farming communities are embedded in the communities. They want a community that will sustain the next generation - their children and families - in order that they will be there to mind them. It is a life-cycle approach. We need to take a holistic view. That is why LEADER works. It is integrated and it is about having the job, the social enterprise, locally. We are calling specifically for an action such as the back to work enterprise allowance or a special scheme to support the farming community and their farm diversification projects.

There is a lack of trust in the farming community. We have to engage with them and build up that trust. They are sceptical about the bureaucracy and the loss of forms. Local development companies are ideally placed to continue our work on LEADER and the rural social scheme throughout CAP and the next programme with the farming community. We have their trust. They are our colleagues. They are the people we work with on a daily basis.

In terms of Deputy Martin Kenny's point regarding how we deal with people who are unemployed and getting them support, the social inclusion community activation programme that we operate is good.

It is personalised. We sit down with people individually and find out where they are. It is confidential. Sometimes there are many other holistic issues. We work with them on an individual basis to break down their issues. There is personal development, training and education. It is done on a case-by-case local basis.

We recommend to Government that the Tús programme be extended similar to the community employment scheme. One year is simply not enough. The feedback from Tús participants is that it is wonderful as a bridge to employment. If that was extended, it would be of great benefit.