FG highlights 'crisis' in agriculture
Monday, 23 November 2009 15:43Fine Gael has highlighted what it calls a crisis in agriculture with over 10,000 farmers seeking social welfare payments.
Fine Gael's agriculture spokesperson Michael Creed says recent figures show 8,681 people in receipt of farmers' welfare, known as Farm Assist.
1,771 farmers are waiting for claims to be processed.
Mr Creed said the income of 10,452 farm families has been ecimated and they now require supplementary income to survive.
Compared to the 2008 figure of 7,444 recipients, there is a significant jump of almost 30% in farmers who require Farm Assist.
Mr Creed said the Teagasc farm income survey illustrated exactly the extent of recent Budget cuts in agriculture with farm incomes falling by almost 14% in 2008 with this figure expected to reach 20% for 2009.
He said Minister Brendan Smith has consistently failed to acknowledge there is a crisis in Irish agriculture and has persisted with a slash and burn approach to farm schemes.
