When completing the agreement to have his herd depopulated under the brucellosis eradication scheme, the person concerned opted for compensation purposes to have his reactors valued under the on-farm market valuation scheme by an independent valuer from the panel of valuers established under the scheme.
The arrangements for this scheme also include provisions for an appeal valuation to be carried out by another member of the valuer panel and for referral to an arbitration panel in situations where the appeal valuation is not accepted by either the farmer or the Department. In this case, my Department appealed the first valuation. The person concerned was not satisfied with the appeal, the second, valuation and has referred the case for arbitration. The composition of the arbitration panel has recently been agreed and it will meet shortly to determine the action to be taken in relation to this and the small number of other outstanding cases.
My Department has already made two substantial interim valuation differential payments to the person concerned pending the decision of the arbitration panel. Any balance due will be made as soon as possible after the panel's decision has been made.