Vol. 482 No. 3
110 Mr. Ellis asked the Minister for Agriculture and Food the current position regarding the application of a person (details supplied) in County Longford under the early retirement from farming scheme in view of the fact that all required documentation was lodged with his Department some months ago. [17562/97]
This applicant applied to join the scheme under the joint management arrangement with his spouse. It is a condition of the scheme that in a joint management application, a participant or a participant's spouse on reaching their 66th birthday must apply to the Department of Social, Community and Family Affairs for either a contributory or a non-contributory old age pension. If such a pension is paid it must be deducted from the farm retirement pension. In any event evidence of the application and the reply from that Department must be submitted to my Department at the relevant time.
This applicant's spouse has reached 66 years of age and he has been informed of this requirement by letter. When the Department of Social, Community and Family Affairs has confirmed his situation, his application for the farm retirement pension will be processed and payment will be made with effect from 25 September 1997, the date of valid application.
