Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 9 March 2004
215 Mr. McGuinness asked the Minister for Agriculture and Food if he will examine the case of a person (details supplied) in County Carlow; if the penalty imposed can be reviewed downward given that it is causing severe hardship to the family; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [7486/04]
View answerMy Department was obliged to impose a penalty on the person named because of his failure, as a transferee, to comply with the terms and conditions of the 1994 scheme of early retirement from farming. He appealed against this decision to the agriculture appeals office but the penalty was upheld. The office is statutorily independent of my Department. As the scheme is co-funded by the European Union, my Department is obliged to recover all penalties imposed under it. However, my officials will consider sympathetically proposals the person may wish to make to pay the full amount over a period of time.
