Willie Penrose (Westmeath, Labour)
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Question 273: To ask the Minister for Agriculture and Food if repayment of an overpayment by a person (details supplied) in County Westmeath will be waived; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [20168/05]

Mary Coughlan (Donegal South West, Fianna Fail)
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The person who incurred the overpayment, which happened because his early retirement pension was not reduced to take account of his national retirement pension, is deceased and the debt has fallen on his estate. The early retirement scheme is co-funded by the European Union and, as an accredited paying agency, my Department is obliged to recover such overpayments. However, the Department will consider sympathetically any proposals that the late participant's widow may wish to make to repay the amount over a period of time.