David Stanton (Cork East, Fine Gael)
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Question 78: To ask the Minister for Community, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs the number of participants in the rural social scheme and the success of the initiative in combating poverty in rural areas; the other initiatives operated by his Department to combat social exclusion in rural communities; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [42947/06]

David Stanton (Cork East, Fine Gael)
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Question 89: To ask the Minister for Community, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs the efforts his Department is making to combat poverty among farmers; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [37644/06]

Éamon Ó Cuív (Galway West, Fianna Fail)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 78 and 89 together.

My Department is committed to combating poverty amongst farmers and to this end, two specific schemes are targeted at the most vulnerable farmers i.e. the Rural Social Scheme (RSS) and the Smallholder Initiative.

The RSS was introduced to allow low-income farmers and fishermen who are unable to earn an adequate living from their farm holding/fishing, to earn a supplementary income. The Scheme aims to encourage farmers and fishermen to continue to farm and fish while providing them with additional financial support. In addition, the talents and skills widely available amongst our farmers and fishermen are being harnessed for the benefit of rural communities.

The Scheme has proven to be very popular and as of Friday, 1st December, there were 2,593 participants on the RSS out of the 2,600 places currently available. I expect the remaining places to be filled in early 2007. The number of participants on a county basis is set out in the following table.

As part of the Local Development Social Inclusion Programme, 25 rural Partnerships implement a dedicated Smallholder Initiative — formerly known as the Low Income Smallholder Household Initiative (LISHI). The LISHI was established by rural Partnerships in 1996 in response to a recognition that many farm families were becoming increasingly marginalised and their needs were not being met through existing supports / service provision mechanisms.

The LISHI works with the most disadvantaged farming households. It provides facilitation, support and guidance to disadvantaged households to help them adapt to changing economic realities. It provides flexible, local responses, and it complements and makes use of existing mainstream services. The focus is on the household as a whole, with a view to securing a viable household income — be it from farming and/or off-farm opportunities. Elements of the Initiative include:

Outreach to the most marginalised farm households;

Ensuring households are aware of their entitlements;

Exploring available options in line with family circumstances;

Making agreed referral and follow-up support to mainstream agencies;

In some cases (if not locally available) the provision on an outreach basis of training and up-skilling courses for family members.

Between 2002 and 2005, 7,415 people (2,098 women and 5,317 men) were actively supported under the Initiative. Over this period, 37% were supported into education and training, 9% were place in employment, and 4% started up new enterprises.

Other programmes operated by my Department — such as the CLÁR Programme — also tackle social exclusion in rural communities. CLÁR funds or co-funds, together with other Departments, State agencies and local authorities, investment in selected priority developments. These investments support physical, economic and social infrastructure across a wide range of measures and reflect the priorities identified by the communities in the selected areas. This funding helps rural communities overcome local difficulties and achieve access to a range of essential services such as water supply, sewerage disposal, road access, broadband communication, community and economic infrastructure, etc.