Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 6 April 2004
198 Mr. Naughten asked the Minister for Agriculture and Food the action he is taking to address the issues which have been raised regarding the impact which the mid-term review of Agenda 2000 will have on the rights of participants of the early retirement scheme; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [10668/04]
View answerThe discussions with the European Commission on the detailed implementing rules for the single payment scheme have now concluded. In the course of negotiations on these rules I have secured certain changes to the initial proposals for farmers who retired under the previous and current schemes of early retirement from farming. The legal position laid down in the Council regulation is that payment entitlements can be established only for farmers who were active during the reference period — by definition, this excludes farmers who had retired under the 1994 scheme of early retirement from farming. In order to activate those entitlements in 2005, a farmer for whom they are established must continue to farm in that year and submit an area aid application.
Notwithstanding these constraints I have secured several favourable arrangements in regard to participants in the early retirement schemes such that where the transferee inherits the holding of the retired farmer, he or she can also inherit any entitlements established for the retired farmer. Farmers, including offspring of farmers who retired before the reference period, who take over the holding of a retired farmer at some date in the future will be able to apply to the national reserve for payment entitlements under the single payment scheme. Where the transferee, whether family or non-family, took over the holding during the reference period and started farming for the first time, his or her entitlements will be based on the two year average or simply based on one year as the case may be. Farmers who entered the early retirement scheme after the reference period will have entitlements established for them provided they were actively farming and in receipt of direct payments during one or more of the reference years. Such farmers can apply in 2005 to establish those entitlements only, provided that a lease agreement is in place at that time whereby the entitlements can then be leased to the lessee.
