THE DETERIORATION in the economy will inevitably result in an even deeper gap between the incomes of rural and urban workers, the Irish Rural Link (IRL) annual conference was told yesterday.
Séamus Boland, chief executive of IRL, a national organisation campaigning for sustainable rural communities said the recession was hurting all rural dwellers deeply.
He said recent Central Statistics Office figures had shown disposable income per person was highest in the Dublin region at 12 per cent above the State average. Incomes in the Border region were 8 per cent below the average and in the midlands 9.4 per cent below the average.
The figures showed eight counties were below 90 per cent of the average, with Kerry over 13 per cent below, he said. Donegal had the lowest disposable income per person at more than 16.5 per cent below the State average.
Mr Boland said there was a presumption that even low-income rural households had sufficient surplus capacity to meet the recently-imposed levies on income.
But many low-income household budgets were already fully committed, especially with the loss of mortgage interest relief. “There is significant deprivation in rural Ireland already with two thirds of the economically poor living in rural areas and almost a quarter of farm families living with an income below the minimum wage,” he said. “The ESRI’s recent economic quarterly shows the difference between the ‘poorest’ and ‘richest’ counties increased over the period 1995 to 2002, and states that as there is no clear direction of investment in less developed regions, structural deficiencies remain,” said Mr Boland.
“This highlights how badly people in rural Ireland were left behind at the height of the Celtic Tiger,” he said, adding that future regional income figures would show an even greater disparity.
“The average income from farming of 60,000 smallholders is less than half the average industrial wage and in the past this was supplemented by part-time employment, often in the construction sector. The deterioration in the economy will inevitably result in an even deeper gap between the incomes of rural and urban workers,” he said.
The two-day conference which opened in the Dunhill Eco Centre in Waterford yesterday will discuss a range of issues today including rural crime, broadband services, difficulties with planning in rural areas and transport problems in rural Ireland.