Vol. 539 No. 1
34 Mr. Higgins (Mayo) asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and Rural Development if any extension can be made for the farm retirement pension scheme to accommodate farmers who exit from the scheme at 70 years of age and have no other source of income; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [18006/01]
The EU regulation governing the scheme of early retirement from farming does not allow for any such extension. Article 3(1) of council regulation 2079/92, under which the 1994 scheme of early retirement from farming was introduced, states that the pension cannot be paid beyond the 70th birthday of the retired farmer.
A retired farmer who comes to the end of his or her time in the early retirement scheme and has no other source of income would, of course, be entitled to apply for the non-contributory old age pension, which is means-tested.
The new early retirement scheme, which was introduced last November as part of the rural development plan, allows for the early retirement pension to be paid to the age of 70 for those farmers who joined the scheme in the year 2000. The upper age limit then comes down one year at a time and will be fixed at 66 for those farmers who join the scheme after 2003. This is designed to reduce overlaps between the early retirement pension and state pensions, which have to be offset against it.
