The numbers of appeal cases open and pending a decision by the Agriculture Appeals Office each month have seen a significant increase compared to 2023.
In figures provided by Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine Charlie McConalogue in response to a parliamentary question from Fine Gael TD Paul Kehoe, the minister outlined how many appeals were open during each month of 2024 so far, as well as the number of appeals open during each month of 2023.
The most notable increase was for July; four appeals were open in that month of 2023, but in July of this year that figure had jumped to 54.
A similar increase was seen for August, which went from four appeals open in 2023 to 48 in 2024.
June also saw a significant increase, from 2 appeals open in 2023 to 34 open in 2024.
The figures show that each month of this year has seen more appeals open compared to each month of 2023.
The number of appeals open in each month across both years is set out in the table below:
Year Jan Feb Mar Apr May June July Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec 2023 1 5 2 6 2 2 4 4 9 15 14 8 2024 8 15 14 11 20 34 54 48 17
The minister also outlined that there are a further nine files open for the years 2020, 2021 and 2022.
These appeals may still be open for a number of reasons, including the complexity of the case, cases awaiting further submissions, and the unavailability of parties to attend hearings, Minister McConalogue said.
However, while the number of cases open has increased this year compared to 2023, the amount of time it is taking to resolve an appeal seems to be decreasing.
According to the figures provided by the minister, the average number of days that passed from the receipt of an appeal to a final decision was 173 for appeals received in 2023. For 2024 so far, the average figure is 95.
The average number of days that passed from the assignment of an appeals officer to a final decision was 141 for 2023 appeals, decreasing to 63 for 2024 appeals.
Meanwhile, the average number of days from the date of an oral hearing to a final decision was 57 for 2023 appeals, decreasing to 21 for this year’s appeals.