Vol. 493 No. 5
133 Mr. Flanagan asked the Minister for Agriculture and Food if arrangements will be made for the payment of appropriate farm retirement pension together with appropriate back money to a person (details supplied) in County Laois. [16730/98]
It is a condition of the scheme of early retirement from farming that an applicant must, on the date all the transfer documents are signed, stop all commercial farming activity definitively. The application in this case was lodged in the local Farm Development Office on 25 May 1997. However, subsequent to the application being lodged the applicant continued to engage in farming in that he maintained a herd number and had cattle tested. Payment of the early retirement from farming pension could not commence until the herd number was cancelled and the cattle disposed of. The herd number was cancelled on 25 February 1998 and payment commenced at the end of April retrospective to 25 February 1998.
134 Mr. Flanagan asked the Minister for Agriculture and Food if arrangements will be made for the payment of appropriate farm retirement pension together with appropriate back money to a person (details supplied) in County Laois. [16731/98]
I have made arrangements to ensure that where undue delays occur they do not result in the applicants for the farm retirement pension being unfairly penalised by having pension commencement dates adjusted to take account of any such delays.
