Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 13 July 2022
575. Deputy Rose Conway-Walsh asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine if he will consider reviewing the agricultural appeals system with the aim of achieving efficient and timely outcomes for farmers; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [38210/22]
View answerI inform the Deputy that the Agriculture Appeals Office operates independently of the Department. The Office has responsibility for agriculture appeals and in addition, the Office provides administrative and secretariat support to the Forestry Appeals Committee (FAC) which was established in February 2018. In addition to their agriculture appeal functions, Appeals Officers are also appointed as members of the FAC.
A Review of the Agriculture Appeals Act 2001 and operations at the Agriculture Appeals Office was completed in December 2017.
The report of the Review Committee included a recommendation that, where an appellant is not satisfied with the decision of an appeals officer, he or she can seek a review of that decision from an Independent Agriculture Appeals Review Panel.
The Review Committee recommended that the panel should consist of an independent chairperson, the Director of the Agriculture Appeals Office and additional members with technical and practical expertise.
The recommendation for an independent Agriculture Appeals Review Panel is a key priority for the current Government. Indeed, the Programme for Government Our Shared Future (2020) includes a commitment to “establish an Independent Agriculture Appeals Review Panel in legislation, as a priority, and ensure that the panel includes participants with practical knowledge and experience of farming”.
This, and other recommendations contained in the Review, will require a change to primary legislation prior to implementation. Work is ongoing to implement this and other recommendations contained in the Review report and I have met with both the Director and Deputy Director of the Agriculture Appeals Office in this regard. Their work on the entirety of the Review recommendations has been extensive and has included consultations with relevant stakeholders including the farming representative bodies.
Recommendations of the Review that are already in place include: the appointment of a Deputy Director, bespoke legal training for Appeals Officers, engagement with the farm bodies involved in the Farmer’s Charter of Rights Monitoring Committee, formal induction training for newly appointed Appeals Officers, the publishing of a Code of Practice for Appeals Officers, the holding of case conferences, and the holding of remote oral hearings for appellants.
During 2021, engagement took place with relevant stakeholders, including representative bodies, regarding implementing the recommendations and establishing the Independent Review Panel and work is progressing on the required amendments to legislation.
The Agriculture Appeals Office has set itself a target of three months for closure of an appeal from the time of receipt of the Department file documents. Certain circumstances may result in appeals not being completed within that target time frame. In addition to the impact of COVID-19 and Forestry Appeals commitments, the reasons for appeals being closed outside the three month period varies and can include delays in agreeing dates for oral hearings with all parties, the complexity of cases, legal issues, time taken by appellants and/or the Department to revert with additional information requested, and resource capacity.
I have been informed that during 2021, there was an increased demand on resources due to the backlog of Forestry appeals, which I am informed has since been resolved. COVID restrictions also contributed to delays, as oral hearings could not be held during certain periods within the year, and a high level of postponements at short notice due to close contacts and other COVID-related matters.
I have been assured that the Agriculture Appeals Office is currently working on reducing the number of open appeals on hand and reducing the time period from the assignment of an appeal to an Appeals Officer to the closing of that appeal and has made significant progress in this regard in 2022 to date. In addition, I have been advised that the records of the Agriculture Appeals Office indicate the number of appeals received had increased from 570 in 2019 to 760 in 2020 and to 809 in 2021. Also, the number of forestry appeals had increased in 2019 and 2020. Both of these factors had a negative impact on the time taken to resolve appeals. I am now informed that the number of agriculture appeals received to the end of Quarter 2 this year was 325 and during that same period 489 appeals were closed and the time taken to resolve appeals is reducing in line with these trends.
