Michael Ring (Mayo, Fine Gael)
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65. To ask the Minister for Social Protection the position regarding reviews under the farm assist scheme which are taking place at present; if these reviews will take a person’s expenditure and outgoings into consideration; if not, the reason why; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [10880/15]

Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour)
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Farm Assist is a means-tested income support scheme for farmers. To qualify for the payment, a customer must be a farmer, farming land in the State, aged between 18 and 66 and satisfy a means test

The means test for Farm Assist takes account of virtually every form of income but assesses it in different ways and disregards various amounts. Different rules apply to income from farming and other forms of self-employment, income from certain schemes such as the Rural Environmental Protection Scheme (REPS) and Agri-Environmental Options Scheme (AEOS), income from employment and income from property and capital.

The review form does not have space to outline farm outgoings as it would typically not be feasible for customers to list the entire farm operating costs for the previous 12 month period on the form. However, a customer can supply details of outgoings with the completed review form if they so wish.

An examination of farm outgoings is included in the assessment process and the Social Welfare Inspector takes a detailed account of all operating costs when interviewing the customer. This usually gives the customer a good opportunity to explain both the income generated and the operating costs associated with the farm directly with an Inspector.