THERE HAS been a 30 per cent increase in the number of farmers seeking social welfare through the Farm Assist scheme this year, and over 8,681 are already receiving it.
Figures given to Fine Gael agriculture spokesman Michael Creed covering the period up to the beginning of this month showed a further 1,771 farmers were waiting for claims to be processed.
Mr Creed said there were 7,444 recipients for the social welfare scheme which was specially designed for farm families, in the same period in 2008.
“We now have a situation where over 10,000 farm families are looking for help and this indicates farm incomes are at crisis point,” he said. “The Teagasc farm income survey illustrated exactly the extent of recent Budget cuts in agriculture with farm incomes falling by almost 14 per cent in 2008 with this figure expected to reach 20 per cent for 2009.
“The current situation is not sustainable for either farmers or taxpayers. The failure of Minister [Brendan] Smith to implement departmental reform as opposed to cutting economically beneficial schemes such as Reps [Rural Environment Protection Scheme] and the Disadvantaged Areas Scheme, has led to these significant increases on social welfare dependence. A flight from the land will be the inevitable outcome of Minister Smith’s apathy towards the real financial difficulties being faced by farmers across the country,” he claimed.
“Minister Smith’s approach has been to hit the farm-gate first, second and third, with departmental reform well down the list of priorities. Likewise, the Minister’s reluctance to engage his colleague, the Minister for Finance, on the credit crisis that many farmers are experiencing at present has created a perfect storm for cash-strapped farmers.”
This week, Mr Smith said he was bringing forward payments of €85 million under the Farm Waste Management Scheme and Reps because of the economic conditions in farming.
Mr Smith said the payments would be made in December rather than in the new year when they would have become due.