IFA refutes grant anomaly claims

CLAIMS that farm families receive a disproportionate share of third-level education grants ignore the reality of low-farm incomes, the Irish Farmers Association (IFA) said yesterday.

IFA Farm Business Committee chairman Eddie Downey said the average farm income this year will be about €17,000, compared with the average industrial wage of €31,000.

Mr Downey said farm families place great importance on education and have a tradition of encouraging their children to attend third level institutions.

Mr Downey said the fact one sector is more inclined to avail of the grants does not impinge on the rights of families from other sectors to receive them. He refuted claims that farmers can take advantage of the system by investing in new equipment the first year their son or daughter attends college.

He said the Department of Education’s policy on income assessment is that capital allowances are not deductible in computing reckonable income for grant purposes.

Mr Downey said the link between grants allocation and low farm income is supported by the county figures.

These show that six counties in the west and north-west, Mayo, Galway, Sligo, Cavan, Clare and Kerry, where small scale farming prevails, account for over one half of all grants received by the children of farmers.

He said the IFA is opposed to any amendment to the grant allocation scheme, which would include assets in assessing the eligibility for grant approval.