Rural Social Scheme aims to harness talent
All current participants on Community Employment Schemes with a herd number will automatically transfer to the Rural Employment Scheme. The Community, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs Minister said the new scheme will help to free up places on Community Employment Schemes, which will then be allocated to both urban and rural areas.
The focus of the scheme, which will provide about 2,500 community work places, is to provide ongoing income and employment support to small farmers who can no longer make a viable living on the land.
At the same time, it will ensure the provision, at a reasonable cost to the exchequer, of sustainable, top-class services in rural areas.
“By harnessing the tremendous latent wealth of talent in farming communities, this Scheme will fulfil my aim,” said the Minister.
Those eligible for participation in the Rural Social Scheme will be farmers with a herd number who are in receipt (long term) of Farm Assist, Unemployment Assistance, Disability Assistance or Unemployment Benefit. Participants will receive a weekly payment in excess of what they currently receive from the Department of Social and Family Affairs, and equivalent to what they would receive on similar schemes elsewhere. There will be no fixed time limit on participation in schemes, but priority will always be given to new participants.
“The continuous relative decline in farm incomes has caused severe hardship to families even in traditionally strong farming areas but paradoxically, there is a marvellous range of skills and talents in the rural community, which are often under-utilised,” said Minister Ó Cuív.
The scheme will recognise that small farmers in receipt of social assistance are not unemployed, are not technically seeking work and that they have a wealth of experience and talents that need to be preserved for future generations.
The funding for this Scheme will be provided from savings made in social welfare payments, and there will be an extra provision of 10 million to cover extra costs of wages, insurances and materials.
This 10 million will come from the Dormant Accounts fund.
