Charlie McConalogue (Donegal North East, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

There are approximately 10,000 farming families overall, and approximately 1,500 of those are in Donegal. The changes the Minister introduced to the income disregard means that for those 1,500 families, their income has been reduced and, as they come up for review, they are being assessed on the basis of an income of 30% less because the Minister has changed the basis from 70% of income being assessed to 100% of income being assessed. No benefit, incentive or recognition has been given for the fact that day in, day out those families work not only a 40 hour week but in many instances 12 hour days to run a family farm. The Minister is not giving any recognition to the fact they are working full-time. Instead she is bringing their income up to the level of the dole, which is a payment for people who are normally out of work and who we hope will be able to go back to work. However, those farming families work day in, day out. There needs to be recognition that they are in employment, carrying out a valuable role within their community and contributing to the rural economy. What the Minister has done is left many of those farmers in a situation where they get no benefit or reward for the daily work they carry out.

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