Off-farm work for in-pocket gain

By Kay Kevlihan

If you were offered a flexible, part-time, locally-based job working less than 20 hours a week giving you an income of over €17,000 a year for doing something you really enjoyed, would you take it?

Over 2,000 farmers, and in some cases their spouses, are using their skills to earn a regular weekly income while benefiting their local communities. They are participants in the Rural Social Scheme (RSS) set up by the Department of Community, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs in 2004. In an era when time constraints are limiting the voluntary involvement of people in their communities, those working with RSS are doing valuable work in what is a gem of a scheme. But some farmers do not realise they may qualify to take part.

Each RRS is managed by a LEADER group within the county or, in the case of Gaeltacht areas, by a LEADER group together with Údarás na Gaeltachta. If you are in receipt of Farm Assist or have a herd number and are in receipt of a Social Welfare payment, you are eligible to apply.

Keen to earn

Programme Manager for Offaly LEADER, Perpetua McDonagh says that since RRS schemes have become more well known in the county, she has seen an increase in the number of enquiries from farming people who are interested in becoming participants, some of whom would be entitled to Farm Assist but are unaware that they are eligible.

"Their motivation is to get on RSS rather than Farm Assist, which proves that the farming population want to earn their income. It is financially very worthwhile because the less you are getting from State benefit, the more the financial benefit from RSS."

There are very few jobs in any community that could not be covered by the scheme and Offaly LEADER do their level best to provide work that is suited geographically and practically to a farmer or spouse. Sometimes pride prevents people from finding out about opportunities in their locality, but they should be reassured by the sensitive approach taken by organisers who appreciate the issues involved.

Perpetua explains: "Some people may not want to be too visible working in the community and might be happy to work with, for example, the GAA, but not on the street, and we find suitable positions that they are comfortable with. In rolling out the scheme, we were anxious to identify job opportunities and participants and marry the two. We have two schemes which operate geographically with a diversity of activities and multiple locations. The only clustering involved is having two workers together."

As you will see from our two profiles, the work assigned to participants can be very satisfying, not alone providing substantial regular income but directly enhancing the lives of others within the community. There are also tremendous social and cultural benefits as, according to Perpetua, many participants who were anxious about working outside the farm blossom with regular social contact.

"We have 29 men and six women on the scheme and many of them would have had some concerns about participating. Now they are key activists in the community and the turnaround in them has been remarkable. Their work has offered them a new lease of life and new opportunities."

Farmer- friendly jobs

The beauty of the RSS scheme is that it is part-time and farmer-friendly, so your farming activities should not suffer. You work for 19.5 hours a week for a 12-month period, after which you may re-apply to participate again and there is no definite time limit in place.

Another major advantage is that spouses may take the place of those who qualify but don’t wish to participate. If you are already on a CE scheme you cannot participate in both, but you may opt to transfer to RSS. PRSI is paid at a Class A1 rate which will entitle you to contributory pension, health and dental entitlements. RSS participants are now entitled to retain medical cards, fuel allowance and back-to-school clothing and footwear allowances. Table 1 shows the RSS weekly payments and what they amount to on a yearly basis.

Spousal Opportunities on the Rural Social Scheme

Joan and Michael Kelly, and their daughter Grace, live on their beef and suckler farm near Daingean in Co Offaly. Michael loves farming and, with Joan working outside the home, they made a good living. However, when Joan found herself out of work it looked like it was Michael’s turn to find off-farm employment. They explored the possibility of Michael becoming involved in the RSS and were delighted to discover that they could avail of what is called a "spousal swap".

This meant that while Michael is registered as the farmer, Joan could avail of a place on the RSS. With the assistance of Offaly LEADER, Joan found a placement with Mary Brereton, manager and founder of the Daingean Community Childcare Services. Mary runs a very busy centre in a beautifully refurbished old school-house in Daingean. With a staff of four, the centre has a total of 43 children on the roll and provides pre-school and after-school childcare for up to 29 children per session.

Joan works her 19.5 hours a week and has decided to complete the Level 5 FETAC Certificate in Childcare in order to develop a career in the sector.

"I spent 17 years working in factories and walked away with little or no skills," says Joan, "I’m here a few months and I’m enjoying the work. I love working with the children and decided to use my spare time to get myself a qualification at something I love doing."

Mary is thrilled to have Joan on the staff. "From the employers point of view, to have someone from the RSS is great.

"She’s a mother and she also has great support from Offaly LEADER to continue with her training and improve her skills."

Joan shares the workload with two co-workers, Martina Henry and Mary Buckley. When the manager Mary Brereton started she had one full-time and one part-time worker, "I’ve been involved in childcare for the past 20 years," explains Mary, "I first operated privately and when the Childcare Act came into force, a lot more resources were needed.

"These are now in place and there will be lots of opportunity for trained childcare workers throughout the country in the years ahead."

Mary and her committee are about to start work on a brand new state-of-the-art childcare centre in Daingean which will cater for up to 100 children with 10 full-time and four part-time staff. The Department of Justice Equality and Law Reform is funding the centre and the local parish is donating the site.

Joan Kelly is certainly delighted with the opportunities the RSS and Offaly LEADER have provided for her. She is grateful to Daingean Community Childcare Services for the experience she is gaining. "I really love my work and Michael can stay at home on the farm doing what he loves. It’s grand, isn’t it? I would encourage other farm families to investigate what opportunities there may be to diversify their income stream and update their skills by contacting their local LEADER group."

Active retirement

Every second Wednesday night, the parish hall in Barna, Co Offaly comes alive as neighbours from the area pour through its doors to have a chat, share a cup of tea and see what’s on the agenda for the evening. It might be a talk on gardening, reflexology or a table quiz; it might be planning a day at the races. Coming up on the social calendar soon is a four-night touring break in Co Clare. You can bring along a friend so it’s open house in the Barna hall when the Barna Active Retirement Group meet.

Early last year, to get the ball rolling, RSS participant and co-ordinator of the group, Catherine O’Meara knocked on the doors of everyone she knew of in the locality who was over 55 years of age.

"There was nothing in the area for older people who were not into the pub culture, and Perpetua McDonagh from LEADER came up with the idea of an active retirement group. It’s been very successful and, on average, we have around 25 people attending on Wednesday nights since we started last April," said Catherine.

"There’s a great buzz about it and it has created good vibes in the community."

Similar groups operate in Rahan, Belmont and Clara and they are also run by RSS participants. Catherine works mainly from home and fits her job around the household and farming chores. She is not a woman who likes the limelight and initially spent a few sleepless nights wondering if she could make a success of it, but her fears were groundless.

"We started with 16 people and are now up to almost 40 and the people involved look forward to it, so it has been very positive in the community. I am challenged by it and want to keep the momentum going. It has made a difference and some people really appreciate it."

Help is always on hand from Joan Potterton, her supervisor John Moran, and Therese Hennebry, and while members contribute a small amount, funding is also provided by the Health Service Executive and the National Lottery. The group is affiliated to the Federation of Active Retirement Association.

The Active Retirement Group has given a real boost to older people in Barna while providing a regular income and new challenge for Catherine. "The regular income is more than welcome and it’s good to know that every week I have extra money in the bank and that people are benefiting from my efforts. We’re keeping the hall warm anyway!"

More women wanted for RSS

"All the people working on the RSS also work on farms, so the quality and quantity of the work they do is exceptional in most cases because they are a very skilled workforce. There is no doubt about it that all the work in RSS is urgently needed and contributes hugely to the quality of life of communities throughout the country," Minister Eamon O Cuiv told The Journal.

Some farmers who would not have qualified for Farm Assist 10 years ago are now eligible and consequently could participate in RSS.

Mostly it is men who avail of these work opportunities but Minister O Cuiv would like to see more women involved. "We want the total variety of skills that men and women can bring to their communities," he said.

The Minister explained how the RSS came about. "The only lecture I ever got from my father-in-law and one that struck a chord in my mind as a young man was that in early governments, farmers on low incomes were given work building bog roads in winter which provided them with valuable income. The huge advantage was that in the summer months they had the benefit of these roads to draw the turf from the bog."

The Minister’s father-in-law was not to realise that his comments would prove to be the inspiration behind the RSS where the skills of people in farming are matched to necessary work in the community, and which deals with income problems in farming.