Denis Naughten (Longford-Roscommon, Fine Gael)

Is it not the case that the main delay in processing appeals has been the delay by the Department and its agents in furnishing documentation to the appeals committee? Is it appropriate to put a map in a library and in a Garda station where the vast majority of the population do not visit on a regular basis, and does that satisfy the criteria in providing public notification to farmers?

Is it not the case that there are numerous examples throughout the country of where areas of land have been designated, which are a significant distance from what people believe is the SAC, and of where there is no scientific basis for it? In fairness, the appeals committee has taken those parcels of land out of the designation. As farmers were given no notification, this decision was literally taken overnight. Is it not the case that when the Minister of State met the three farming organisations on 31 October, they expressed their strong objection to bringing in this decision literally overnight without giving farmers the opportunity to make a formal appeal?

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