Jackie Cahill (Tipperary, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I am delighted to see this Bill reach Second Stage as Chairman of the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine. We carried out pre-legislative scrutiny on this Bill and presented a report to the Minister. I am glad to say that the Minister has taken on board a number of the recommendations that were made by the committee.

Usually at committee, there is divisiveness and there are different views as regards legislation. In this case, however, there was universal welcome. It is something that has been promised for a long time. I am delighted that the Minister, Deputy McConalogue, is now bringing this Bill to pass.

The Minister has taken on board a number of points that will make sure farmers have confidence in this agricultural appeals review panel. It is absolutely essential that farmers have confidence in the review panel we set up. First, there are going to be at least two farmers on the review panel. At the end of the day, everyone likes to be adjudicated by his or her peers. People will go into that review panel knowing their case is going to be understood by people on the panel and that they will get a fair hearing. I have attended many agricultural appeals hearings over the years. In fairness, they are always courteous, well-managed and well-run. However, a farmer will really appreciate that when he or she goes in, one of his or her own will be on the other side of the table to listen to his or her case and plea to get a fine rescinded. That is most welcome.

The Minister has also taken on board the suggestion to increase the number of members on the panel. Again, that will make sure this works well in practice. It is important that a reasonable number of members of the panel are present for all hearings. The Minister has set in the legislation what constitutes a quorum, etc. I would hope it works out that if for whatever reason the attendance of a member of the panel is not up to what we would deem acceptable, his or her membership could be reviewed. Some people take on jobs at times and then find out they do not have enough time to fully commit to it. It is something we might examine when we get to the later Stages of the Bill so that the attendance record of members of the panel will be up to a certain level.

It is important to make sure that this panel works efficiently and well. We have been looking for an independent appeals body for many years. It is grand and gratifying to see now that it is coming to pass.

As Chairman of the Oireachtas committee, I know it will be coming back to us. We knew it was coming in here today and we have made arrangements for it to be taken at our first meeting when we come back in September. Most definitely, the committee, which I am privileged to Chair, will not be blamed for delaying the passage of the bill and we get it back into the Chamber as quickly as possible and get this Bill into legislation and up and running. As is my wont, we will co-operate fully with the Minister and his staff to ensure that we get a speedy passing of this Bill. I look forward to coming back to the Chamber to pass it into legislation. As I said, the door of our committee is wide open for this to come back to us. I presume, after today, it will be referred back to our committee and we will deal with it at the first meeting the committee has in September.

I again commend the Minister on bringing forward this Bill. Farming organisations and everyone else is on side with this. It is a very progressive step. At times, farmers feel aggrieved about inspections they have had. What is proposed in the Bill will bring fairness and will allow farmer to be confident that they have a route they can go down without it costing them a great deal of money, that they can get a fair hearing and that if their cases stand up to scrutiny, then whatever fines were imposed will be refunded. This is a great step forward. I commend the Minister on advancing this Bill.

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