Pride is preventing some farmers from taking part in the Rural Social Scheme which could increase their income by as much as €12,000 a year, the Minister for Community and Gaeltacht Affairs, Mr Ó Cuív, told a conference yesterday.
The Minister told the National Rural Development Forum in Athlone that hundreds of farmers who could benefit from the scheme, which has been set up by the Leader rural development companies, were not coming forward.
The Minister said a couple with two children on a farm income of less than €20,000 were entitled to take part in the scheme and this could deliver an additional €12,000 a year.
"That means that a farmer with an income of say €18,000 could by joining the Rural Social Scheme, see the income jump to over €30,000, which would give that farm family more than the average industrial wage," he said.
"However, there seems to be a perception out there that this scheme is for very small farmers.
"Nothing could be further from the truth. There may also be the perception that this is a charity. Nothing could be further from the truth," he said.
"These are real jobs which have been identified by Leader groups as work which has to be done in the community on community projects for 19½ hours a week," he said. "The scheme has also been set up to facilitate farming activity and a farmer could, for instance, work for four weeks on a scheme and then have the next four weeks free for farm work," he said.
Mr Ó Cuív said that so far, only 900 of the possible 2,500 places had been filled.
He accepted that there may not be enough information available on the scheme outside the Gaeltacht areas and this was an issue which had to be addressed.
He added that some of the Leader rural development organisations which have been charged with setting up the employment schemes were doing very well but he was disappointed with the lack of take-up in some of the areas and he had called on the groups to make a special effort to ensure these jobs were put in place.
Opening the forum, which was called to review current rural development policies and discuss the needs of the future, the Minister said that it was clear from recently published reports that the projected number of farmers in rural Ireland would show a sharp decline.
He said that if current trends continued, the total number of farmers in the country was projected to fall to as low as 105,000 from the present 136,000 or so and of this number, only 30,000 would be able to make a viable living from farming alone.
This meant that over 100,000 farmers will either need to find a new source of income or maintain present off-farm jobs, said Mr Ó Cuív.
"In this context the support provided under the Rural Social Scheme will be vital," he said.
Throughout the EU it had been apparent for some time that agriculture alone could not provide sufficient income to support the majority of farm families or indeed provide the impetus to sustain the economic and social fabric of rural communities, said Mr Ó Cuív.