Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Deputy for raising the matter. It is important that by doing so he is increasing awareness of the scheme, which really does benefit the farmer and the participant. At the Deputy said, it is a win-win for everybody. Like myself, the Deputy is from a rural background and he is a strong advocate for our farmers and all things rural. The social farming model is a very important Government initiative that provides a service through communities for people availing of a range of health service supports. It offers on a voluntary basis participation in a farming environment as a choice to people who avail of a range of therapeutic day support services. Often these people have physical and intellectual disabilities. Not only does it assist in the promotion and development of the practice of social farming, it also connects social farmers, organisations and the service providers giving support to the many participants taking part to improve their well-being and grow their confidence.

In October, the Minister, Deputy Creed, announced that his Department will allocate €713,504 under the 2019 rural innovation and development fund. Participation in social farming has been shown to provide benefits such as improved community connections and relationships, increased self-esteem and capacity, improved health and well-being and the opportunity to learn new skills. It provides participants with the opportunity to do ordinary things in ordinary places and is wholly in line with shifts in Government policy in health, social care and labour activation towards a social model of disability with person-centred planning and community inclusion. It is a model that works and the Deputy is absolutely right that we should support it.

The 2020 allocation under the fund has not been announced but the Minister, Deputy Creed, has informed me the scheme will continue to be funded at the same level in 2020. As the Deputy said, we need to build on it because it is a very good scheme. I have had the pleasure of meeting the Leitrim providers at Bloom two years in a row as they qualified to get there. What they are doing for people with disabilities is fantastic. They bring them out and give them an experience on the land working with farmers. It is very rewarding for everybody. I thank the Deputy for raising the matter.

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