Vol. 468 No. 4
866 Mr. M. Kitt asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and Forestry if he will review the regulations involved in the early retirement scheme for farmers to allow more farmers in the west of Ireland to avail of the scheme; the decisions, if any, that have been made in respect of this review; and the number of farmers in the west of Ireland who have availed of the scheme each year since the scheme commenced. [15474/96]
As the Deputy is aware, the Scheme of Early Retirement from Farming was introduced in 1994. The scheme applied in all countries and there are no plans for a review at this time. The number of approved applications from the western counties comprising Donegal, Sligo, Leitrim, Roscommon, Mayo, Galway, Clare, Limerick, Kerry and Cork are as follows:
|
Applications |
1994 |
1995 |
1996 to date |
|
Overall |
1,423 |
2,303 |
979 |
|
Western Counties |
734 |
1,097 |
497 |
