Michael Fitzmaurice (Roscommon-Galway, Independent)
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317. To ask the Minister for Social Protection the reason a son cannot nominate his father to use their herd number, even though that herd number was passed from his father to him for the purposes of obtaining a placement on a rural social scheme, in view of the fact that other Departments are encouraging the older generation to pass on family farms to the younger generation; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [39793/16]

Michael Fitzmaurice (Roscommon-Galway, Independent)
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318. To ask the Minister for Social Protection the reason a son cannot nominate his herd number for his father to obtain a placement on a rural social scheme, in view of the fact that a wife can nominate her herd number for her husband and a sister can nominate her herd number for a brother; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [39794/16]

Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 317 and 318 together.

The Rural Social Scheme (RSS) is an income support initiative to provide part-time employment opportunities for farmers or fishermen who are in receipt of certain social welfare payments and are underemployed in their primary occupation. The work undertaken is primarily to support local service provision via community, voluntary and not-for-profit organisations, provided that this does not displace existing service provision or employment.

In order to retain eligibility for participation on the RSS, participants must continue to be actively farming/fishing and retain entitlement to the underlying qualifying DSP payment. An eligible farmer must also have a valid herd number. Participation is by voluntary self-selection and is dependent on the availability of vacancies in the relevant locality.

Eligible RSS participants are offered contracts of one year’s duration. Contracts are reviewed annually subject to participants continuing to satisfy the underlying criteria for the scheme and subject to local demands.

There are provisions under the scheme for an eligible applicant to use a herd number belonging to a spouse, parent or a sibling provided they satisfy the other conditions of the scheme, including being actively farming. There are no provisions under the scheme for a son to pass his herd number to his father for the purposes of participation on the scheme and there are no plans to change these rules and conditions. This is to ensure that access to limited places is available for those who need it most.

The Deputy will appreciate that there is significant demand for places on the RSS and only people who satisfy the conditions can be considered for participation.

As part of Budget 2017, I announced an additional 500 places on the RSS and I plan on allocating these early in the New Year.

I hope this clarifies the matter for the Deputy.