Matt Carthy (Cavan-Monaghan, Sinn Fein)
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291. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection the number of applications for farm assist received by quarter; the number declined; the reason for such by quarter in each of the years 2016 to 2021 and to date in 2022; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [15756/22]

Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
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As the Deputy will be aware, Farm Assist is a form of Jobseekers Allowance. It is a means-tested payment for low-income farmers. To qualify, a customer must be a farmer in the State, be aged between 18 and 66, and satisfy a means test (as is the case for all Jobseeker’s Allowance claims).

To enable the accurate enumeration of recipients of Farm Assist, the Department uses a unique administrative code which is only applied to a claim that has already been awarded. Statistics are maintained on the total applications, awards, refusals, and withdrawals for Jobseeker’s Allowance but such detailed data is not separately collated in respect of Farm Assist. Accordingly, the data sought cannot be provided in the manner referred to by the Deputy.

Farm Assist recipients by month from January 2016 to February 2022 is provided beneath.

Table 1: Farm Assist recipients by month from January 2016 to February 2022.