Vol. 496 No. 3
169 Mr. Perry asked the Minister for Agriculture and Food if, further to Parliamentary Question No. 298 of 30 September 1998, he will reinstate the pension entitlements suspended for a person (details supplied) in County Sligo; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [22385/98]
As I have stated in my previous reply, in this case one of the objectives of the scheme of early retirement from farming is to improve the economic viability of holdings. To this end, holdings surrendered under the scheme to younger farmers must be enlarged. In this case, each of two applicants involved leased land to the other applicant's son to fulfill the obligation in relation to enlargement. As a result, the total area farmed following transfers of the lands was no greater than that originally farmed by the retiring farmers. This situation clearly does not meet the enlargement requirements of the scheme. As the person referred to in the question had been accepted into the scheme before this situation came to light, payment of his pension has been suspended.
