Dr. Kevin Smyth:

As stated, one needs to show the areas. I would be interested to hear of examples the Deputy has in that regard.

I agree with Deputy Martin Kenny that certain farmers are of the view that the appeals process is difficult. They are not used to it and it is one of the things that should be borne in mind when we speak about video conferences and so on. It is difficult enough for farmers to turn up at appeals hearings. One can see why video conferencing might be a more efficient way of doing things but for a person who is not used to dealing with a public process, sitting in a Department office in front of a video camera might make the process even more difficult. It must be borne in mind.

In the context of who is chosen as the chairman, one of the problems is that the legislation is awfully complex. I wonder if a person who knows nothing about agriculture would be able to take on board the complexity of the schemes.

On Deputy McConalogue's comments regarding GLAS, the beef data and genomics programme and TAMS cases, I can see from where the difficulties are coming. This is borne of the complexity of the schemes that are in place. There are certain things we have to deliver, and this is one reason we have problems. While we try to make the schemes as simple as possible, there are areas where they become complex and then things have to be done and certain hurdles have to be crossed. An independent chairman should have the technical expertise to know and understand the schemes at a fairly early stage.