Jackie Cahill (Tipperary, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I am not arguing that point at all. It is the farmer who pays the bill.

We will have the Minister before the committee next week. We want to get the legislation right so that we have a fair, transparent and independent appeals body. This is what we all want so that when farmers takes an appeal, they will have confidence they are getting a fair, independent and transparent hearing. This is what we want to achieve with the legislation. I do not know how, in what we are trying to do with regard to setting up an independent appeals body, we can cover where an application has not been made by a third party. I fully accept there is a big issue but I do not know how we can get it into this legislation. I accept fully that farmers are being left short changed and it is happening more often. I would have had one or two of these cases a year five years ago whereas there is now a colossal number of them. I am not arguing with Dr. Whelan that it is an issue but I do not know how we can deal with it in this legislation. This legislation is to make sure the mechanism of appeal is fair, transparent and independent. I do not know how we can cover the point being made by Dr. Whelan.