Vol. 499 No. 4
106 Mr. Finucane asked the Minister for Agriculture and Food the status of the application for a farm retirement pension for a person (details supplied) in County Limerick; and if she is eligible for the scheme and satisfies the requirements. [2913/99]
The person named applied for an early retirement pension on 25 September 1998. Due to the volume of work a backlog has arisen in the processing of applications. It is expected that this application will be processed in the next four weeks.
In no case does the processing time result in a financial loss to a retiring farmer. The operational procedures for the scheme specifically ensure that the date of receipt in the Department of a valid application determines the date from which payment is made.
