Vol. 499 No. 3
166 Mr. Perry asked the Minister for Agriculture and Food if he will intervene on behalf of persons (details supplied) in County Sligo in relation to the early retirement scheme in view of the fact that the owner had no choice but to resume farming as the tenant did not comply with the terms of the lease; if he will rescind the decision and waive the back payment; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [2458/99]
Under the terms and conditions of the scheme of early retirement from farming an applicant must cease all commercial farming activity definitively from the date the transfer documents are signed. In this case, as the persons involved recommenced farming, the pension was suspended on 30 June 1995. As the applicants have not found a farming transferee since that date and have continued farming the question of repayment of pension payments has to be considered. In this context my Department recently wrote to the persons concerned and is awaiting their views on the matter before proceeding further.
