Coveney attacks plans to means test farmers for grants
“The idea that one could accurately measure a farmer’s capacity to deal with the cost of sending sons and daughters to college by calculating that capacity to pay on the back of land assets and agriculture is not realistic,” he told the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Agriculture.
“The Minister for Education and Skills, Deputy Ruairí Quinn, is doing what everyone expects him to do, which is to look at ways of making savings and ensuring that the money he has to spend on third-level grants goes to those who need it most. Therefore, we need to go through that process. My view, as it relates to farming, agriculture, and small businesses generally is that one needs to be careful how one manages a family’s ability to pay for the cost of third-level education.”
“Including assets in that mix is not an easy thing to do, so we need to be careful of it. We are being careful of it, which is why there has not been any announcement to date.
“I have spoken to the minister, Deputy Quinn, about this on numerous occasions and he clearly understands my view on it.”
Mr Coveney said that a lot of farmers across the country are asset rich but cash poor. “The average farming income is approximately €24,000 per year. It is a lot higher for full-time farmers but many farmers do other things as well.”
