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Minister appoints Chairperson of Forestry Appeals Committee

The Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Michael Creed T.D., has today announced the appointment of Mr. Bart Brady as Chairperson of the new Forestry Appeals Committee (FAC).  Mr. Brady is a former Assistant Secretary General in the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine.

The FAC was established, under the Agriculture Appeals Act, 2001, as amended, to hear appeals against decisions on forestry licences and is independent of the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine.  It is based in the Agriculture Appeals Office in Portlaoise, Co. Laois.  In addition to Mr. Brady as Chair, the other members of the Committee will be drawn from officers of the existing Agriculture Appeals Office.

Commenting on the appointment, Minister Andrew Doyle T.D., Minister with responsibility for Forestry in the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine, said

“I very much welcome the appointment of Mr. Bart Brady as Chairman and the news that the Forestry Appeals Committee is about to commence its work.  I understand that the number of appeals received to date under the new system is very low relative to the volume of licence decisions issued by my Department. The commencement of work by the Committee will now facilitate those appeals and be available should any appeals be made on future licensing decisions”.

The FAC is available as an appeals body to applicants or third parties who are dissatisfied with decisions made by the Department on applications for licences for afforestation, tree felling, forest road works and aerial fertilisation. The appeals process will now be completely independent of the Department but it is understood that the Committee will be commencing its work shortly and processing existing appeals in the coming weeks.