European Communities (Retirement of Farmers) Regulations, 1974

• Jurisdiction: Ireland

S.I. No. 116 of 1974.

EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES (RETIREMENT OF FARMERS) REGULATIONS, 1974.

I, TOM FITZPATRICK, Minister for Lands, in exercise of the powers conferred on me by section 3 of the European Communities Act, 1972 (No. 27 of 1972), hereby make the following regulations: 1. These Regulations may be cited as the European Communities (Retirement of Farmers) Regulations, 1974. 2. These Regulations shall come into operation on the 1st day of May, 1974. 3. ( a ) The Irish Land Commission shall have and enjoy all such powers as are necessary or expedient for the purpose of carrying out the Farmers' Retirement Scheme, 1974, which provides for the measures necessary for compliance by the State with Council Directive No. 72/160/EEC of 17 April, 19721 and which is set out in the Schedule to these Regulations.

1 OJ No. L 96/9, 23.4.72 (OJ SE 1972 (II) )

( b ) The acquisition of land by the Irish Land Commission and the disposal of that land by the Irish Land Commission under the Farmers' Retirement Scheme, 1974, shall be excepted matters for the purposes of section 12 of the Land Act, 1950 (No. 16 of 1950).

SCHEDULE

FARMERS' RETIREMENT SCHEME 1974

Definitions

Article 1.

IN THIS SCHEME—

( a ) a "farmer whose main occupation is farming" means a person who is the owner or, where land is occupied, the occupier of a holding of agricultural land and who has shown to the satisfaction of the Land Commission that he

(i) has worked in agriculture on that holding for a period of at least five years immediately prior to making application for an annuity and/or premium;

(ii) has devoted during this period at least 50% of his working hours to work in agriculture on that holding;

(iii) has derived from work in agriculture on that holding during this period at least 50% of his earned income

and

(iv) has owned or occupied that holding continuously for a period of 5 years prior to the date of application;

( b ) "holding" means all the land owned or occupied by an applicant or applicant and spouse;

( c ) "agriculture" shall include dairying, livestock (including pigs and poultry) production, the cultivation of grass and tillage crops and the growing of horticultural crops;

( d ) an "approved development plan" means a plan formulated under Article 8 of Part II of the scheme for the implementation of Directive No. 72/159/EEC dated 17 April, 1972, of the Council of the European Communities concerning the modernisation of farms which is submitted by a farmer to the Department of Agriculture and Fisheries and which has been approved by that Department;

( e ) farmers who are more than 50% disabled are those who (on the date of the application for an annuity and/or premium) by reason of physical illness, injury or infirmity are unable, in the opinion of the Land Commission (confirmed where necessary after a medical examination by a doctor nominated by them) to carry out the normal duties of a working farmer and unlikely in the foreseeable future to be able to do so;

( f ) "earned income" means, in relation to any individual—

(i) any income which is immediately derived by the individual from the carrying on or exercise by him of his trade, profession or vocation, either as an individual or, in the case of a partnership, as a partner personally acting therein

and

(ii) any income arising in respect of any remuneration from any office or employment held by the individual

and

(iii) any income from any property which is attached to or forms part of the emoluments of any office or employment held by the individual, but does not include any income of the individual's spouse;

"earned income from agriculture" means the revenue of the farm business including any net inventory changes and farmhouse consumption less all appropriate charges and expenses including remuneration of capital;

( g ) "the Land Commission" means the Irish Land Commission.

Qualified Applicants

Article 2.

The financial benefits of this scheme may be granted only to the following who apply for them—

( a ) a farmer whose main occupation is farming on a holding not exceeding the equivalent in the opinion of the Land Commission of 45 statute acres of good all-purpose agricultural land.

This limit, however, can be exceeded

(i) where, in the opinion of the Land Commission, such holding is particularly suitable and required for the provision of additional land for farmers in the same locality whose approved development plans confirm that such extra land is needed and other suitable holdings are not at that time available for purchase or leasing for this purpose;

or

(ii) where the applicant can prove to the satisfaction of the Land Commission that his earned income from the holding is significantly lower than the earned income derivable from a farm of 45 acres of good agricultural land under normal methods of husbandry and management;

( b ) a farmer whose main occupation is farming and who is disabled as defined in Article 1 (e), regardless of the size of his holding;

( c ) a widow who is the owner of agricultural land regardless of the size of the holding for whom farming has become her main occupation through the death of her husband provided that she or she and her late husband between them have worked in agriculture on that holding for at least the previous 5 years;

( d ) an owner who has owned the holding continuously for the previous five years and an occupier of the same holding as provided for in Article 5.

Financial Features of the Scheme

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