5 days ago
Fewer farmers in receipt of Farm Assist compared to 2024
There are currently just over 3,400 recipients of Farm Assist, the Department of Social Protection has confirmed.
This compares with the end-of-year 2024 figure of just over 3,600, and 4,000 in 2023.
Farm Assist is a means-tested income support specifically for farmers on low incomes.
The government has provided almost €47 million for the scheme in 2025.
To qualify for Farm Assist, you must be a farmer in Ireland, be aged between 18 and 66, and pass a means test.
In a means test, the Department of Social Protection examines all sources of income.
A recipient's income must be below a certain amount.
Figures from the Department of Social Protection show that in 2024, of the 3,610 Farm Assist recipients, Co. Donegal had the highest number with 804.
Co. Mayo had the second highest number with 515, followed by Co. Galway with 332 and Co. Cork with 239.
A spokesperson told Agriland that the department "does not maintain data on the types of farming undertaken by Farm Assist recipients".
They added that any future changes to the scheme, such as payment rate, "would have to be considered in a budgetary context, within the scope of the overall resources available for welfare improvements and with consideration to other social welfare schemes".
Minister for Social Protection, Dara Calleary was asked in recent months by Sinn Féin TD Martin Kenny if there are plans to disregard farm income from environmental schemes such as ACRES for the purpose of Farm Assist applications.
Under the Farm Assist means test, income from a range of agri-environmental schemes attract a disregard of €5,000, with 50% of the balance assessed as means.
The amount disregarded was increased from €2,540, with effect from January 2023.
"Further to a commitment in the Rural Development Policy 2021-2025, my department reviewed the means assessment disregards for Farm Assist in 2021 and the list of agri-environmental schemes that qualify for a disregard has been significantly expanded in recent years," the minister said.
"ACRES was included in the disregard from April 2023.
"In line with the recommendation contained in the review, I am committed to continuing to work with my colleague, the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, to identify any additional schemes contained in Ireland's CAP Strategic Plan 2023-2027 that could be considered for inclusion in the list of agri-environmental schemes which attract this disregard."
The Irish Farmers' Association (IFA) is seeking a number of changes to the Farm Assist scheme in Budget 2026.
It is proposing that recipients of Farm Assist should receive credited social insurance contributions for pension purposes.
The IFA has also proposed that the capital assessment disregard threshold is raised from the current €20,000 to €50,000, and that eligibility is extended beyond pension age, particularly for those with limited or no pension entitlement.
The association also said that income from farm schemes and direct payments must "accurately reflect income needs".
The Irish Creamery Milk Suppliers Association (ICMSA) said that the current year's income should be used when assessing for the means test.
"Year-to-year volatility in farming means that current incomes should be used in the Farm Assist calculations," the ICMSA said.
The association said that the impact of participation in Farm Assist on pension entitlements must be addressed.
"Farmers who did not pay their PRSI contributions in the years they received the aid find their pension benefits under threat," the association added.
