As the Deputy is aware, the Young Farmers' Installation Scheme was closed to new applications on 14 October 2008 as part of the decisions taken in the context of the 2009 Budget. Accordingly, grant applications which were received under the Scheme after that date were not processed by my Department on the basis of strict compliance with the terms of the decision.
In the two cases in question, applicants who had lodged applications on 17 and 22 October 2008 respectively submitted appeals to the Agriculture Appeals Office in relation to the failure by the Department to process their applications. In two separate decisions taken by that Office, which were subsequently confirmed by the Acting Director of that Office following requests for a review, that Office considered that the Department was obliged to process the two applications concerned notwithstanding the fact that they had been received after the date of suspension of the Scheme. As the grounds for the decisions are quite detailed and lengthy, I will forward copies of the Appeals Office decisions to the Deputy with the personal details of the applicants concerned removed.