Séamus Kirk (Louth, Fianna Fail)
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To ask the Minister for Social Protection if she will provide details of the farm assist programme; the persons who are eligible for this scheme; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [3169/13]

Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour)
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Support for farmers on low incomes is available through the farm assist scheme. At the end of last year there were 11,785 recipients on the scheme at a cost of €115 million. This means-tested payment is similar to the jobseeker’s allowance scheme, on which it is based. The farm assist scheme was introduced in 1999 to replace ‘Smallholders Unemployment Assistance’ for low income farmers, without the requirement to be available for and genuinely seeking work.

In Budget 2013 two measures were announced, for implementation in April 2013, which will bring the farm assist scheme into closer alignment with the jobseeker’s allowance scheme’s treatment of self-employed persons by: a) Increasing the amount of means from self-employment, which is assessed against the claimant from 85% to 100%; and b) Discontinuing the means testing disregards for child dependents of claimants.

A person may qualify for farm assist if they are a farmer aged between 18 and 66, and they satisfy a means test. A person is considered a farmer if they farm land that they own or lease and use for the purpose of husbandry. Husbandry means working the land with the object of taking produce from the land.

If a person farms land for the purpose of husbandry but does not own or lease that land, then they may still qualify as a farmer as long as the land is not part of a larger holding. The land, which includes commonage, must be within the State. A person will not qualify for farm assist if they lease or let all their land to another person.