Seán Haughey (Dublin Bay North, Fianna Fail)
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91. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection the amount her Department spent on the farm assist payment in 2022; the total number of recipients for the same year; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [14927/23]

Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
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Farm Assist is a statutory income support specifically for farmers on low-incomes. A person can qualify for Farm Assist if they are aged 18 to 66 and engaged in farming and meet the other statutory scheme conditions. The Farm Assist Scheme is similar to Jobseeker’s Allowance in a number of ways, such as the retention of secondary benefits and access to activation programmes. However, the means test is more generous on Farm Assist.

The scheme is demand-led and there are currently just under 4,400 farmers availing of the payment.

Provisional expenditure for the Farm Assist scheme for 2022 was almost €55.1 million and there were over 4,400 claims in payment at the end of December 2022. Government has provided €49.4 million for the scheme in 2023.

I have made a number of improvements to the means assessment for Farm Assist in recent years. Following a review of means testing disregards for the scheme in 2021, I expanded significantly the list of agri-environmental schemes that attract a specific disregard for Farm Assist. This expansion applied from June 2022. In addition, I increased the amount of the disregard for agri-environmental schemes, which almost doubled the amount from €2,540 to €5,000. This measure came into effect in January 2023.

The 2021 review also recommended that my Department would work with the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine to identify schemes in Ireland's Common Agricultural Policy Strategic Plan 2023-2027 which may be considered for inclusion in the list of agri-environmental schemes which attract a disregard for Farm Assist. This process is underway.

I trust this clarifies the position for the Deputy.