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

One would think from the Minister's response that her stewardship of the Department of Social Protection has led to an improvement for farmers in receipt of farm assist. Unfortunately, her response bears no reflection on reality. When was the last time the Minister set foot on a family farm or the farm of someone who depends on farm assist as weekly income?

There are 1,500 farming families in Donegal and 9,500 such families across the country who are in receipt of farm assist. For those who are not aware of it, farm assist is paid at the level of jobseeker's allowance. Previously only 70% of a farm family's income in terms of means was taken into account. Under the Minister's stewardship, every euro earned by a farm family is taken into account for the purposes of farm assist payments, which removes the incentive for people to work and be productive. As a result of this change, many farm families are now surviving at below subsistence level.

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