Attack on low income farms
That looked like a hollow promise to farmers when they went through the small print, and discovered it was indeed the most vulnerable among them who have suffered most in this budget.
Nearly one farmer in 10 depends on Farm Assist, a means-tested income support scheme similar to jobseeker’s allowance.
Among the €452m per year savings in the Social Protection budget is a €5m cut in Farm Assist spending, which will lead to farmers losing up to 20% of their payment, according to IFA estimates.
And low-income farmers will find it harder to qualify for Farm Assist in future.
A farmer with two children with a farm income of €15,000 per annum could see their Farm Assist payment drop by €2,555 per annum, or €49 per week. A married farmer with no children, whose spouse is not working off-farm, and with a farm income of €10,000, will see the Farm Assist payment reduce from €7,765 per annum, or €149.32 weekly, to €6,265 per annum, or €120.50 per week. IFA sees it as a direct attack on the most vulnerable group of farmers, the 11,000 families who get Farm Assist.
IFA also highlighted that this cut does not apply to other families who qualify for family income supplement.
There is more evidence that the Government is picking on the weakest farmers when one looks at the Disadvantaged Area payments.
Irish Cattle and Sheep Farmers’ Association president Gabriel Gilmartin said this week that when he started farming, the maximum Disadvantaged Area payment was “a real wage”, over £5,000. Following the Budget, it’s as low as €2,471 in the less severely handicapped areas.
After a year which showed that farming is becoming more and more difficult on disadvantaged land, the budget measures hitting vulnerable farmers will do even more damage. Many Farm Assist recipients may also suffer cuts to disadvantaged area and sheep grassland payments. The maximum for disadvantaged payments is reduced by as much as €383, and a 22% Budget cut in sheep grassland payments is likely to cost more than €2 per ewe.
