Proof of income to be sought for Farm Assist

Claimants of a €99m welfare scheme for low-income farmers are under no obligation to provide annual proof that they have an ongoing entitlement to payment from the fund.

The C&AG report has recommended that the Department of Social Protection should seek supporting documentation from farmers who are claiming from the Farm Assist Scheme.

The report has found that €2.9m in overpayments were made last year in 377 cases. Five farmers accounted for 20%, or €580,000, of the total overpaid.

Farm Assist gives a standard personal rate of payment of €188 a week, and those with dependant adults and children receive increased payments.

The C&AG report has found that while farmers claiming the payments are required to make an annual declaration of on-going entitlement, and are obliged to inform the Department of any changes in their means, they are not asked for supporting documentation to prove their claim to the payment.

Furthermore, reviews of 125 sample cases across five Department offices found that some of the original application forms for the payment were not kept on file, others were incomplete and some files did not have a completed declaration on file.

In one sample case, in Ballina a farmer who had not had his means reviewed for nearly a decade was found to have been overpaid by €56,000 across six years.

“While an annual declaration is required from all claimants, no evidence to support the declaration is required. The audit found that payment can continue for many years without an in-depth review to identify possible changes in means or circumstances,” the report read.

In response to the audit, the Department has undertaken to review Farm Assist cases every three years and says it will examine the operation of the annual declaration process with a view to seeking additional information from claimants.

However, it rejected the C&AG recommendation that it should evaluate the extent to which the scheme is helping maintain the viability of rural communities.

“The Department is not in a position to undertake such a review as it raises issues that are wider than its remit and have policy implications for the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine and the Department of the Environment, Community and Local Government,” the Accounting Officer for the Department of Social Protection said.

About 10,300 farmers claimed Farm Assist payments last year, with Cork, Donegal, Galway, and Mayo accounting for nearly 50% of all recipients.