The Irish Farmers’ Association (IFA) has urged female farmers to take the time to check what Pay Related Social Insurance (PRSI) contributions they have made to date and ensure that they are making a contribution when carrying out tax returns this year.
IFA Farm Family and Social Affairs chair, Alice Doyle said: “As we approach the closing part of the year, consideration should be given to reviewing your PRSI record of contributions to date.
“This is important in terms of planning for your future entitlement to the state pension and may provide the opportunity to enhance future benefits.”
Alice Doyle added that many female farmers who are retiring discover that they are not entitled to the state contributory pension, as they have not made sufficient PRSI contributions.
“This is despite having worked on the farm all their lives. It is important to be aware of this issue when planning for the future,” she said.
Farm support payments
Meanwhile, 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.