A TD says he has
exposed an anomaly that has seen many part-time
Donegal farmers refused Farm Assist or Jobseeker
benefits.
Deputy Thomas Pringle raised the issue in the Dáil
with Minister Joan Burton who has indicated a review
will be carried out within her Department of Social
Protection.
Deputy Pringle said the anomaly came to his
attention when farmers in the county contacted him
saying they were consistently refused welfare but
were awarded payments on appeal.
“Personally, I have dealt with 17 different appeals
cases after part-time farmers came to me wondering
why they were refused in the first place.
“All bar one have been upheld as the individual
having an entitlement to Jobseekers or Farm Assist.
That means something is clearly wrong in the
Department but it is particularly worrying as
Donegal has the second highest number of Farm Assist
recipients in the country. This payment is very
important for farmers here," he said.
“After dealing with each case, a pattern emerged and
I realised these people were wrongly labelled as
self-employed at first contact with their local
office, even though they are not self-employed.
“While I welcome any review, I do feel that too many
people have missed out on vital income supports
because of this mislabelling. Most were awarded the
payment upon appeal but some farmers were seriously
struggling as a result.
“I wonder how many other farmers have been refused
but are unaware they were affected by these
anomalies," he added. |
