Vol. 505 No. 5
68 Mr. Crawford asked the Minister for Agriculture and Food when the EU farm retirement scheme will end for application purposes; when the new replacement scheme will be announced and commence; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [14194/99]
It is expected that the acceptance of applications under the current scheme of early retirement from farming will end on 31 December 1999. The rural development regulation that was recently adopted by the agriculture council as part of the Agenda 2000 agreement provides for continued support for early retirement from farming. The provisions of the new regulation cannot apply before 1 January 2000.
Details of the new early retirement measure to apply in Ireland are under consideration in my Department. Our proposals will form part of the rural development plan which has to be submitted before the end of this year for European Commission approval.
