asked the Minister for Agriculture whether he is aware of a ruling made by the Farm Development Service in January 1979 reducing the level of grants for development farmers with a break in the sequence of their farm accounts; whether he is further aware that this ruling was not publicised until December 1981 and that in the meantime many farmers had been advised to change their accounting dates for tax and other reasons; and whether he will ensure that those affected by this retrospective ruling will not be penalised.
Written Answers. - Development Farmers' Grants.
503.
Under the terms of the farm modernisation scheme, farmers in the "development" category are obliged to keep farm accounts for each year of their farm plan and to submit the required extract to the chief agricultural officer each year. This has been a requirement of the scheme since its introduction in February 1974 and the consequences of non-compliance have been emphasised on a number of occasions since then.
Before an applicant is accepted into the "development" category he is required to furnish a written undertaking that he will comply with all the conditions of the scheme including the conditions relating to farm accounts. Where a farmer fails to honour his commitments in regard to the keeping of farm accounts he forfeits entitlement to the rate of grant aid appropriate to the "development" category.