Vol. 511 No. 3
164 Mr. Connaughton asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and Rural Development if applications will be taken for the EU farm retirement pension scheme during the early part of 2000 under the present rules governing the scheme and in the period leading up to the point when the revised EU retirement pension scheme will be introduced; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [24393/99]
The current scheme of early retirement from farming which was approved under EU Council Regulation 2079/92 will end on 31 December 1999. Only valid applications which are submitted before 31 December can be dealt with under the current scheme.
My Department is preparing a new early retirement scheme as part of a new rural development plan which will be submitted to the European Commission in December. I will be seeking the commission's earliest approval for the plan. The regulation under which the plan is being prepared changes the requirements for early retirement measures by removing the requirements that farms transferred under it must be enlarged and that the retiring farmer and the transferee must be engaged in farming as a main occupation.
