It it of the “utmost importance” that farmers are represented on the Agriculture Appeals Review Panel so that they can have “faith” in the process.
That is according to a new report from the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine’s on the Pre-Legislative Scrutiny of the Agriculture Appeals (Amendment) Bill 2024.
In the report the joint committee sets out a number of recommendations to “encourage confidence” in the appeals process.
The Oireachtas committee believes that the new bill represents “a significant opportunity to provide greater assurance to farmers and to encourage public confidence in the agriculture appeals process”.
The Government approved the General Scheme of the Agriculture Appeals (Amendment) Bill 2024 for formal drafting in January.
One of the key objectives of the draft legislation is to provide the legislative framework for the establishment of an independent Agriculture Appeals Review Panel.
The Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine has indicated that the bill is likely to be passed before the summer months.
Agriculture Appeals Review Panel
The Agriculture Appeals Office, which was set up in 2002, provides an independent appeals service for farmers who are unhappy with decision taken by the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (DAFM).
Since 2002 the office has handled 15,466 appeals, and approximately 5,605 farmers have received “improved outcomes in their cases” – with these either being partially or fully decided in favour of the farmer involved.
The Oireachtas joint committee has recommended in its report that the Agriculture Appeals Review Panel should have at least two “ordinary members” nominated by farmer organisations.
It has also set out that it is “absolutely essential that the in-person option is retained” in relation to the appeals process.
“Obviously if someone wants to do it remotely, that option should be available, but the in-person option must be retained because there is nothing like face-to-face contact when explaining a situation,” the report details.
One other key aspect of the process, according to the committee, is that it should also be able to facilitate that the “appellant may represent himself or herself, along with the assistance of one or more additional persons not being more than three”.
The Oireachtas joint committee has also put forward in its report that the request for a review of a decision by DAFM should be made by a farmer within “six calendar months from the date of the appeals officer’s decision”.