Michael Moynihan (Cork North West, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

There is some indication from the groups that the criteria for the scheme will be changed. A person on farm assist who qualified for the rural social scheme would stay on that scheme for a number of years but now it seems there is a cap of three years, after which people have to break of three years before returning to it. It is almost like a CE scheme and this could be detrimental to the future of the rural social scheme. Does the Department have plans to put a cap on the rural social scheme? Has the Minister and the Department thought through the consequences of this? The rural social scheme will run out of participants in this case. Is it the aim to dissolve the scheme in the long term?

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