Vol. 521 No. 1
130 Mr. U. Burke asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and Rural Development when payment for farm retirement will be made to a person (details supplied) in County Galway as her entitlement is with his Department since 1999 and is a complete application; and the reason for the delay. [16363/00]
The person named applied for an early retirement pension on 20 December 1999. A very large number of applications was received at that time before the closing date for entry to the existing scheme on 31 December. The backlog in applications is now being given priority by local office staff and my Department is making every effort to expedite the processing of outstanding applications. This case will be examined shortly.
However, 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.
