Govt urged to 'save the industry' and put more support in place for farmers

Agriland

a day ago

Government is being urged to "save" the agricultural industry and put more financial support in place with "less red tape, rigmarole and bureaucracy".
Aontú senator Sarah O'Reilly, who sits on the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Fisheries, said she believes recent jobseeker payment figures published could be "an underestimate of the numbers leaving" the agriculture sector.
She said that for many, farming "was not just a source of income, but a way of life - an occupation handed down from grandparent to parent to child over the years".
"Government policies have been incredibly anti-farmer and anti-rural over the last few years, with threats to cull the herd, the Mercosur trade deal and carbon taxes creating huge worry on farms across the country," O'Reilly said.
O'Reilly said that often, the money offered to farmers if they sign up to certain schemes "is not worth it".
"The delayed ACRES payments, the codology that is 'rewetting' the bogs, all pose a huge threat to the farmer and to his or her ability to make any profit," she said.
"All our young people are gone to Australia or Canada, and farms are being abandoned, planted or sold."
She said Irish produce is "second to none" on many fronts.
"We need to save the industry. There needs to be more financial support put in place - less red tape, rigmarole and bureaucracy," O'Reilly said.
"The government needs to stop treating farmers like second-class citizens; they need to recognise that farmers are some of the most decent and astute businessmen and women in the country.
"But, government policies particularly around the environment, TB, taxation and issues like that are driving them into debt."
Aontú leader Peadar Tóibín asked the Minister for Social Protection, Dara Calleary recently the number of people who applied for Jobseeker's Allowance or Jobseeker's Benefit who listed their previous employment as farming in each of the past 10 years.
The minister in response published figures on the number of claims made by individuals where the employment immediately prior to the claim commencement was in agriculture, forestry, and fishing.
These figures show the number of recipients at the end of each month in the specific year who had an employment in the sector immediately before the jobseeker's claim started, a Department of Social Protection spokesperson explained.
In June 2025, the relevant figure was 268, compared with 451 in the same month last year.
"It is possible that that recipients of Jobseeker's Allowance or Jobseeker's Benefit are still engaged in farming on a part-time basis," the department spokesperson told Agriland.
"Jobseeker's Benefit and Jobseeker's Allowance are payable where a person is working for up to 3 days every week and where they satisfy the other conditions of the scheme.
"In the case of Jobseeker's Benefit or Jobseeker's Pay-Related Benefit, a person can be engaged in subsidiary employment which is work that could ordinarily have been followed by the person in addition to their usual employment."
To qualify as subsidiary, the total remuneration or profit from the employment should not exceed €7,500 on an annual basis, or, €144 on a weekly basis, the department said.
"Alternatively, if a person has at least 117 employment contributions paid from employment at class A or H, in respect of the period of three years immediately preceding that day, or in respect of the last three complete contribution years immediately preceding that day, then no earnings limit is applicable," the spokesperson added.
The Jobseeker's Pay-Related Benefit, introduced in March 2025 and based on earnings from work before a person became unemployed, was not included in the June 2025 figure of 268, and this would increase the number to 375, the department said.