Written answers
Thursday, 19 June 2014
Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine
Farm Retirement Scheme Applications
John O'Mahony (Mayo, Fine Gael)
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124. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the schemes in place for a farmer who has to retire from farming due to ill health; his plans to put one in place; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [26434/14]
Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)
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The Early Retirement Scheme, in conjunction with the Young Farmers’ Installation Scheme, aimed to encourage older farmers to pass their land on to younger, qualifying farmers. There was no specific scheme that catered for farmers retiring due to ill health, although someone in that situation could well have availed of the provisions of the Early Retirement Scheme.
The scheme was suspended in 2008 due to budgetary constraints. It was reopened briefly in September, 2009, with limited additional funding, to accommodate farmers who had applications completed or close to completion at the time of suspension. However, I have no plans to re-open this scheme or introduce another similar scheme at this time.
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