Dáil Éireann debate -
Wednesday, 1 Jul 1998

Vol. 493 No. 4

Written Answers. - Farm Retirement Scheme.

Paul Connaughton

Question:

102 Mr. Connaughton asked the Minister for Agriculture and Food if he will accept a copy of the deed of transfer of property between a father and son for the purposes of the farm retirement pension scheme; if his attention has been drawn to the fact that the acceptance by his Department of a certified copy of the unstamped deed of transfer together with the relevant dealing number which is allocated to the dealing when it is lodged in Land Registry would greatly ease the pressure on solicitors, Land Registry and, more particularly, applicants. [16577/98]

Minister for Agriculture and Food (Mr. Walsh)

In administering the scheme of early retirement from farming, my Department must ensure that proper conveyance practices are followed. It is a statutory requirement under the 1990 Finance Act that deeds of transfer must be stamped by the Revenue Commissioners. Further, Land Registry will not accept a deed of transfer for registration where that deed is not correctly stamped by the Revenue Commissioners.

Therefore, where property is being released by means of a deed of transfer, an applicant under the scheme of early retirement from farming, as part of an application, must submit a certified copy of the correctly stamped deed of transfer together with the relevant Land Registry dealing number. However, to facilitate applicants who do not have a certified copy of the correctly stamped deed of transfer the Department will accept an unstamped certified copy of the deed of transfer provided the applicant supplies the Land Registry dealing number together with a letter of confirmation from the Land Registry that the deed of transfer lodged for registration is a correctly stamped deed of transfer.