4,925 low-income farmers across the country received Farm Assist payments last year, according to the Department of Social Protection.
Donegal was the county with the highest number of eligible recipients for the means-tested social welfare payment, followed by Mayo and Galway.
The lowest number of recipients was in Dublin.
The following table provides a county-by-county breakdown of Farm Assist recipients for 2021:
County Total recipients Carlow 37 Cavan 178 Clare 215 Cork 346 Donegal 907 Dublin 16 Galway 457 Kerry 422 Kildare 17 Kilkenny 53 Laois 41 Leitrim 201 Limerick 89 Longford 103 Louth 48 Mayo 799 Meath 36 Monaghan 239 Offaly 47 Roscommon 169 Sligo 126 Tipperary 161 Waterford 38 Westmeath 62 Wexford 111 Wicklow 27 Total 4,945
In June, Minister for Social Protection Heather Humphreys introduced major changes to the Farm Assist means test.
A new ‘income disregard’ measure will ensure farmers who participate in agri-environmental schemes will not see their social welfare payments impacted.
Grants of up to €2,450 earned through agri-environmental schemes will be disregarded, with the remaining balance assessed at 50%.
Meanwhile, the Department of Social Protection confirmed to Agriland that there was a total of 3,273 participants and 146 supervisors employed through the Rural Social Scheme (RSS) in 2021.
RSS is an income support initiative to provide part-time employment opportunities in the community and voluntary organisations for farmers or fishermen in receipt of certain social-welfare payments and who are under-employed in their primary occupation.
The scheme is delivered through 36 local development companies and Údarás Na Gaeltachta.
Mayo had the highest number of RSS participants in 2021 with 679, followed by Galway and Donegal.
The following table provides a county-by-county breakdown of RSS participants and team leaders who received payment in 2021:
County Participants Team Leaders Total Carlow 24 2 26 Cavan 103 7 110 Clare 151 6 157 Cork 192 10 202 Donegal 329 14 343 Dublin 1 0 1 Galway 422 17 439 Kerry 290 15 305 Kildare 30 0 30 Kilkenny 21 1 22 Laois 23 1 24 Leitrim 138 7 145 Limerick 105 3 108 Longford 63 2 65 Louth 14 0 14 Mayo 679 29 708 Meath 25 0 25 Monaghan 73 3 76 Offaly 58 3 61 Roscommon 178 7 185 Sligo 152 6 158 Tipperary 83 7 90 Waterford 12 1 13 Westmeath 43 3 46 Wexford 45 2 47 Wicklow 19 0 19 Total 3,273 146 3,419