Farm assist over-payments continue
More regular reviews of the scheme will considerably reduce the extent of overpayment, the Committee of Public Accounts was told by Niamh O’Donoghue, Secretary General of the Department.
She revealed that the farm assist scheme will be included this year by the Department in a fraud and error survey.
Documentation from Comptroller and Auditor General Seamus McCarthy revealed last year that there were 377 farm assist overpayments in 2013. Five of the claimants involved in 2013 were overpaid to the tune of €600,000, an average overpayment of €120,000.
In 2014, more than 6,200 farm assist cases were reviewed by the Department, and some 600 of these reviews resulted in savings.
There were 378 farm assist overpayments in 2014, totalling €1.132m, averaging €2,995.
The farm assist scheme was introduced in 1999, and provides income support for low-income farmers.
To qualify for the scheme, an applicant must be engaged in farming, be aged between 18 and 66 years, and satisfy a means test.
Claimants must make annual declarations of ongoing entitlement, and are obliged to notify the Department of any change in circumstances or means.
Expenditure on the scheme was €99m in 2013, down from €108m in 2012. Farm assist is paid in respect of some 10,000 farmers, or about 7% of all farms.
The number of recipients fell by about 5% from 2013 to 2014, which reflected the rise in employment, said Ms O’Donoghue.
She said a fraud and error survey of the farm assist scheme, due to be carried out this month, will identify the level of risk associated with the scheme, with a view to designing review processes and control measures specifically targeted to minimise future risk.
