Farmers’ scheme overpaid by €2.9m

Five farmers were overpaid by an average of €116,000 each in farming social welfare benefits last year, according to the Comptroller & Auditor General’s report.

A total of €2.9 million in overpayments were made in 2013 through the farm assist scheme, which supports low-income farmers.

There is no limit on the level of farming activity that has to be undertaken to qualify for the scheme.

An average of €7,575 was made to each of 377 farmers who received overpayments, according to the State’s financial watchdog.

But the report found that five farmers accounted for 20 per cent, or €580,000, of the total overpaid.

The report also revealed that more than a third of farm assist cases examined had not been reviewed for more than three years.

In one incident, a farmer in the Ballina, Co Mayo area whose case had not been reviewed for a decade, had been overpaid by €56,000 over a period of six years. The farmer repaid the full amount in a single payment.

Farm Assist was established in 1999 to provide support to low-income farmers to help them continue to farm and to maintain the viability of rural communities.

The average weekly payment was €181.12 in 2013.