483 appeals were made by farmers in relation to farm schemes in 2024, down from 624 in the previous year, according to a new report.

The Agriculture Appeals Office annual report noted that when compared with the ten-year average of 630, this represents a decrease of 23%.

Although many factors may account for the decrease, the report pointed to the application system for the Basic Income Support for Sustainability (BISS) Scheme "which allows for early identification of errors in online applications and provides for a grace period for the correction of such errors".

Of the 483 appeals received in 2024, 339 appellants requested an oral hearing, either in person or online. 144 appellants did not request an oral hearing.

A total of 335 oral hearings were held throughout the year, of which 309 were held in person and 26 held remotely, which is an increase of 160% on 2023.

80 hearings (78 in person plus 2 remote) scheduled to take place in 2024 were cancelled or postponed either due to revised decisions by the department or by way of requests from appellants

Cork was the county with the highest number of appeals submitted during 2024 at 54, followed by Galway (46) and Kerry (37).

There was a 204% increase in appeals submitted using the office's online facility last year (137).

The Suckler Carbon Efficiency Programme (SCEP) was the scheme with the highest number of appeals at 104.

This was followed by 67 appeals for the Basic Income Support for Sustainability (BISS) Scheme and 47 each for the Targeted Agriculture Modernisation Scheme (TAMS) and the Shannon Callows Flood Scheme.

There were 28 appeals in relation to the Organic Farming Scheme (OFS) and 27 connected to the Agri-Climate Rural Environment Scheme (ACRES).

Established in 2002, the Agriculture Appeals Office provides an appeals service to farmers who are not satisfied with decisions of the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (DAFM) concerning designated schemes operated by the department.

636 appeals were brought to a conclusion throughout the year, down from the 652 closed in 2023, but above the ten-year average of 628.

Of the 636 appeals closed in 2024, 43% were allowed, partially allowed or revised, 44% were disallowed and 13% were withdrawn, invalid or out of time.

Of the appeals which were allowed or partially allowed in 2024, 36 were SCEP appeals, 25 related to the Basic Payment Scheme (BPS) and 23 were for TAMS.

Among the appeals that were disallowed there were 78 related to SCEP, 39 for TAMS and 31 for BPS.

The average number of days for the return of the statement and documents from the department was 23 days for appeals received in 2024. This compares with an average of 20 days in 2023.

The Agriculture Appeals Office has set itself a target of three months for closure of an appealfrom the time of receipt of the department file documents and assignment of the appeal to an appeals officer until the issue of an appeal decision letter.

The average time taken to close an appeal in 2024 was 73 days, an improvement of 35% on the previous year.

A total of 122 appeals were closed within the target three months’ timeframe, an increase of 5% on the previous year

The Agriculture Appeals Office received 31 requests for review of decisions of appeals officers in 2024, of which 25 were requested by farmers and six by the Department.

The report stated that the number of appeals still open as of December 31, 2024 was 301.

The Agriculture Appeals (Amendment) Act was passed by the Oireachtas and signed into law by the President on October 29, 2024.

The principal function of the Act is to establish the Agriculture Appeals Review Panel to conduct reviews of decisions made by appeals officers, a role currently undertaken by the director of the office.

The report said that work is ongoing on the production of a regulation that will set down procedures for the functioning of the review panel.

The minister for agriculture will then commence the act and make appointments.