Tim Lombard (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

A colleague, former Deputy Willie Penrose, always made the point about how the appeals office operated regarding legal advice that it received. He made the point that the legal advice was coming from the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine and that the Department was involved to some degree.

Can we get clarity regarding the independence of the entity itself and whether it is external legal advice that is used by the appeals committee or whether it is internal Department of agriculture legal advice that will be used for cases? The former Deputy had a very strong view on this previously. I think the Minister sat with him for many months here. He might clarify where that legal advice comes from.