Dáil Éireann debate -
Tuesday, 13 Oct 1998

Vol. 495 No. 1

Written Answers. - Farm Retirement Scheme.

John McGuinness

Question:

169 Mr. McGuinness asked the Minister for Agriculture and Food the reason payment of a full pension for a person (details supplied) in County Kilkenny was not dated from 2 January 1998 and instead commenced on 17 September 1998. [19056/98]

Minister for Agriculture and Food (Mr. Walsh)

It is a condition of the scheme of early retirement from farming that an application is not valid until all the required documentation is supplied and the date from which the payment of the pension may be made is the date of receipt of a valid application. In this case, an application was received on 17 September 1997 in the local farm development office but the documentation was found to be incomplete and it was referred back to the applicant to furnish the missing documentation. The properly completed application was received in my Department on 20 May 1998.

In line with special provisions which I have put in place to ensure that retiring farmers are not penalised for any delays by my Department in processing applications, the date of valid application in this case was backdated to 2 January 1998 and the pension has been paid from that date. However, my Department cannot accept responsibility for the quite considerable delay by the applicant in providing the required material. In the circumstances, the date of commencement of the pension in this case cannot be further backdated to 17 September 1997.