Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 30 November 2004
385 Mr. Kehoe asked the Minister for Agriculture and Food if there are plans to change the regulations whereby a person on a farm retirement scheme will not qualify for decoupling; if there are plans to index-link the farm retirement payment; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [31285/04]
View answerIn general, the new single payment scheme, which will be introduced in Ireland from 1 January 2005, is applicable to farmers who actively farmed during the reference years 2000, 2001 and 2002, who were paid livestock premia and-or arable aid in one or more of those years and who will continue to farm in 2005. However, during the course of EU negotiations, Ireland secured agreement that farmers who take over, by transfer free of charge or by a lease of five or more years at a nominal amount, a holding that was leased out to a third party during the reference period, may apply to the national reserve for payment entitlements under the single payment scheme. This should be of particular benefit to family members who now take over the holdings of farmers who joined the early retirement scheme before the reference period where the land was leased out to a third party during the reference period.
Farmers who were in receipt of direct payments during the reference period who have already transferred their holdings by deed of transfer or by lease or who will do so by 15 May 2005, may transfer or lease their entitlements with the land by using a private contract clause in the sales contract or lease agreement. This will ensure that the recipients many of whom are young farmers, will have access to the single payment scheme from 2005 onwards. Further details on use of the private contract clause are available on pages 18 and 19 of the explanatory guide on the single payment scheme, which was issued by my Department earlier this year.
As regards index-linking of payments, the rate of pension payable under the 1994 scheme of early retirement from farming is the maximum provided for by the EU Council regulation under which the scheme was introduced. The regulation does not provide for indexation of payments. My Department's proposals for the current early retirement scheme, which commenced on 27 November 2000 and is one of the measures in the CAP rural development plan for the period 2000 to 2006 included provision for annual increases in pension over the period of the plan. The European Commission rejected this proposal and insisted on legal grounds that a fixed rate be set instead.
