Many eligible farmers could be losing out on Farm Assist payments

MANY farmers across the West of Ireland could be losing out on welfare payments that could have a major impact on their day-do-day financial circumstances simply because they haven’t applied for assistance.

Galway IFA Farm Family and Social Affairs Representative, Anne Mitchell, said that many farmers on low incomes simply were not aware of their entitlements under the Farm Assist Scheme.

“This payment is not related to the size of your farm or how many sheds you have. It is based solely on the income that you are generating from your farm which in many, many cases is very low,” Anne Mitchell told the Farming Tribune.

She also said that many farmers mightn’t be aware of the fact that income from a number of schemes including AEOS and Glas had significant ‘disregards’ in relation to income assessment.

‘Disregards’ apply to a portion of the payment from those schemes that aren’t taken into account as income in the means test for the Farm Assist payment.

For example, in schemes like Glas, there was a ‘disregard’ or the first €2,540 as well as 50% on the balance of the payment.

“There are farms out there where there is actually no income at the end of the year. In those cases, the applicant would be entitled to €188 per week and €124.80c for a dependent spouse.

“This level of assistance could make all the difference between households having a reasonable standard of living or being on the breadline,” she said.

She also pointed out that there was a ‘disregard’ as regards part-time work of up to a figure of €120 a week while the applicant didn’t have to own the farm as long as they were working on it and occupying it.

Another important advantage of the Farm Assist Payment as distinct from the Job Seeker’s Allowance was that those qualifying didn’t have to be actively looking for other employment or didn’t have to make themselves for different work schemes.

For more, read this week’s Connacht Tribune.