Vol. 473 No. 3
223 Mr. J. Walsh asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and Forestry the number of recipients of social welfare payments who have their payment topped-up under the farm retirement pension; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [24944/96]
At present 719 recipients of social welfare are also in receipt of an additional payment under the early retirement scheme, ERS. The ERS is intended as an incentive for farmers to retire from farming before reaching the normal retirement age. Under the scheme, persons entitled to social welfare pension must on reaching 66 years of age, have their ERS pension offset by that amount and receive a reduced ERS payment as a supplement to the national pension.
