Vol. 545 No. 2
85 Mr. U. Burke asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and Rural Development if, further to Parliamentary Question No. 225 of 20 November 2001, he will name the persons and officers as outlined in his reply; if all or some of the persons and officers will not be giving verdict on files which they have previously dealt with; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [30132/01]
Members of the REPS appeals committee do not take part in the consideration of any case in which they were party to the decision to impose a penalty. In practice, only the regional inspector of the committee – who was formerly assigned to REPS – can have been party to a decision of this nature. All appeals relating to the region for which he was formerly responsible are listed and presented separately by the secretariat to the appeals committee. The regional inspector is not present when these cases are being considered.
The other members, a senior inspector and an assistant principal officer, are not involved in decisions on the imposition of compliance penalties which may subsequently come before the appeals committee. I do not feel that it is appropriate to name officials in the house. However, I will write directly to the Deputy with this information.
