Michael Cahill (Kerry, Fianna Fail)
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787. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine if he will ensure that an official from his Department and an independent ecologist be present for a meeting (details supplied) in light of the ongoing and prolonged difficulties with this case; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [39068/25]

Martin Heydon (Kildare South, Fine Gael)
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A procedure has been put in place whereby a formal review of commonage scores may be sought by participants in ACRES if they so wish. Details of this process are outlined in the ‘Review of ACRES commonage scores – January 2025’ document available on my Department's website at gov.ie - Agri-Climate Rural Environment Scheme (ACRES) ().

This procedure consists of a three-step process whereby:

1. The participant submits a request, in the first instance, to the relevant Co-Operation Project (CP) team or Commonage scoring contractor which assessed and scored the commonage in question for an internal review to be undertaken.
2. If the participant is dissatisfied with the outcome of this internal review by the CP Team or Commonage scoring contractor, they may then submit a request for an internal review to be undertaken by my Department.
3. If the participant is dissatisfied with the outcome of this review by my Department, they may then submit an appeal to the independent Agriculture Appeals Office.