Vol. 504 No. 7
173 Mr. Kenny asked the Minister for Agriculture and Food the reason a person (details supplied) in County Mayo will only receive an allowance under the pension scheme from May 1999 in spite of the fact that his application was lodged with the Land Commission more than 12 months ago for appropriate procedures to be followed; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [12896/99]
While the person concerned appears to have signed an application for land commission consent for a lease on 28 April 1998, the application was only received in my Department on 19 March 1999 under cover of a letter dated 18 March 1999. Land commission consent was given on 23 March 1999 and an application for an early retirement pension was received in the local FDS office on 10 May 1999. It is expected that this application will be examined in the near future. If the documentation is in order the pension will be paid as soon as possible.
I would point out, however, that in no case does the processing time of a complete application under the early retirement scheme result in a financial loss to a retiring farmer. The operational procedures for the scheme specifically ensure that the date of receipt in the Department of a valid application determines the date from which payment is made. However, in this case no allowance can be made for the time which elapsed between the signing of the application for land commission consent to the lease and its lodgement.
