Dan Neville
Question:76 Mr. Neville asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and Rural Development when a farm retirement pension will be paid to a person (details supplied) in County Limerick. [23958/99]
Written Answers. - Farm Retirement Scheme.
The person named applied for an early retirement pension on 31 May 1999. Due to the volume of work a backlog has arisen in the processing of applications. The backlog is being addressed by local office staff in conjunction with other priority work.
In no case does the processing time 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.