5,004 low-income farmers across the country qualified for the Farm Assist payment last year, according to the Department of Social Protection.
The department previously confirmed to Agriland that 4,925 farmers received the payment last year. However, that figure has been revised upwards in the Department of Social Protection’s Annual Report for 2021.
The report shows that 5,511 farmers qualified for the payment in 2020.
Last year, 4,549 men and 455 women received the means-tested social welfare payment.
The data shows that 4,819 recipients were Irish nationals, 149 had UK nationality, 25 were from EU countries and 11 were listed as other nationalities.
Donegal was the county with the highest number of Farm Assist recipients at 979, which is nearly a fifth of the total number of recipients. 733 farmers in Mayo got the payment, followed by 485 in Galway.
Dublin had the lowest number of recipients at four. Two recipients were listed as ‘other’, which the department explained were recipients who are abroad or their county is unknown.
The following table provides a county-by-county breakdown of Farm Assist recipients in 2021.
County Total recipients Carlow 42 Cavan 184 Clare 239 Cork 347 Donegal 979 Dublin 4 Galway 485 Kerry 329 Kildare 23 Kilkenny 58 Laois 41 Leitrim 202 Limerick 98 Longford 84 Louth 40 Mayo 733 Meath 49 Monaghan 248 Offaly 51 Roscommon 146 Sligo 222 Tipperary 155 Waterford 37 Westmeath 58 Wexford 105 Wicklow 43 Other 2 Total 5,004
1,014 Farm Assist claims were made to the Department of Social Protection last year, with 580 awarded, 624 cleared, while three claims were still outstanding by the end of 2021.
The report shows that 44 Farm Assist claims were rejected by the department in 2021; 98 claims were rejected in the previous year.
Meanwhile, the department outlined that 2,981 people availed of Rural Social Scheme (RSS) payments 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.
2,411 men and 570 women availed of RSS last year. Mayo was the county with the highest number of participants with 623, followed by Galway at 389 and Donegal on 295.