Addressing the Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture on 'Pre-Legislative Scrutiny of the General Scheme of the Agriculture Appeals (Amendment) Bill 2024', IFA President Francie Gorman said farmers must have confidence in the Agriculture Appeals system that their cases will be dealt with fairly, impartially and efficiently.
"The reality is that some of the penalties being imposed by the Department are higher than would be applied for many criminal convictions in a court of law. The consequences for individual farmers are huge. The whole process must be robust and be seen to be fair and transparent," he said.
"The Independent Agricultural Appeals Review Panel needs to be established as soon as possible and its scope extended to all appeal cases, not solely those in relation to the law and/or new facts being presented," Francie Gorman said.
IFA National Rural Development Chair John Curran said that the consequences of penalties imposed by the Agriculture Appeals system for individual farmers are huge.
"The economic viability, in the majority of cases, on farm families is being put into jeopardy given the reliability of farm payments. Every effort must be made to avoid this occurrence," he said.
"The IFA proposal for having at least one farmer representative on the Independent Review Panel (and any Division thereof) has not been specifically provided for in the draft legislation. This is a missed opportunity and should be revisited. The provision for an Independent Chair and greater farmer representation would certainly give more confidence to stakeholders," he added.
Source: ifa.ie