A Government scheme providing part-time employment opportunities to those in farming and fishing has over 40 vacancies in Clare.
New figures show the Rural Social Scheme is yet to be fully-subscribed in this county while the number of people here availing of Farm Assist has halved in the space of five years.
The Rural Social Scheme, or RSS, is an income support scheme providing part-time employment opportunities to farmers and fishermen and women.
It can be availed of by those who are in receipt of certain social welfare payments and who are underemployed in their main occupation.
The scheme is delivered by implementing bodies such as the Clare Local Development Company and in Clare, it has 111 active participants.
As the quota in this county is 155, the scheme has 44 vacancies here at present.
The Government has also revealed that the number of Clare recipients of Farm Assist, which is a means-tested income support for farmers on low incomes, has dropped by more than half in the last five years.
Last year, just 118 Clare farmers availed of the scheme which is 39% below the figure of 194 from the previous year and significantly lower than 2019 levels, when 249 farmers were in receipt of payments here.
Minister for Social Protection Heather Humphreys says numbers on Farm Assist are declining nationwide “primarily as a result of the ageing profile of the customers” as “claimants tend to exit the scheme straight to a pension scheme”.
