Passage of the Agriculture Appeals (Amendment) Bill 2024 by the Oireachtas
- Published on: 24 October 2024
- Last updated on: 12 April 2025
The Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Charlie McConalogue, has today welcomed the passage of the Agriculture Appeals (Amendment) Bill 2024 by the Oireachtas.
Once enacted, the Bill will provide for the establishment of a new independent statutory body, to be known as the “Agriculture Appeals Review Panel”. This Review Panel will take on the role that is currently assigned to of the Director of Agriculture Appeals, of conducting reviews of Agriculture Appeals decisions.
Commenting on the passage of the Bill, Minister McConalogue said:
“I am delighted to welcome the passage of this Bill which provides for the establishment of an independent Agriculture Appeals Review Panel in legislation. The establishment of this Review Panel delivers on a priority commitment for this government, and I believe it will be very much welcomed by the farming community."
The Minister continued:
“While I believe we already have an effective and efficient appeals service which is provided by the Agriculture Appeals Office, the establishment of an independent Review Panel will serve to further enhance the efficiency and independence of the existing appeals service and provide reassurance to farmers bringing an appeal."
The Minister thanked the stakeholders for their engagement and support in the process:
“My officials and I have engaged in extensive consultation with representatives from the farming industry over the past few years. I would like to express my gratitude to the farming representative bodies who engaged with me and my Officials throughout the process and provided valuable advice on many issues. I would also like to thank the Joint Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine for its engagement and its report which contained several recommendations, many of which were incorporated into the Bill."
Notes
In accordance with the legislation, the Panel will consist of seven members – an independent Chairperson, the Director or Deputy Director of the Agriculture Appeals Office and five additional members with experience relevant to the functions of the Panel.
The Bill also introduces a time limit of 6 months for seeking a review of a decision of an Appeals Officer, where currently there is no time limit.
As an entirely separate measure, the Bill includes two amendments to the Fisheries (Amendment) Act 1997. The first amendment removes the existing requirement that the Chairperson and members of the Aquaculture Licensing Appeals Board vacate their membership on reaching 70 years of age. The second amendment seeks to amend the tenure of the Chairperson of the Aquaculture Licensing Appeals Board to align with the Code of Practice for the Governance of State Bodies.