A judicial review brought by the Department of Agriculture against poultry farmer John Fitzgerald has failed.

High Court proceedings brought by the Department sought to set aside the verdict of the District Court from last December. That previous case saw Mr Fitzgerald successfully appeal against two compliance notices served back in August 2024. These related to the recall of duck eggs produced on the farm and the cessation of the supply and sale of duck eggs following the detection of salmonella from a faecal sample obtained on the farm.

Mr Fitzgerald argued that the sampling procedures had failed to adhere to standard operating procedures (SOPs) which his legal counsel argued were mandatory. The Department of Agriculture held that they were no more than guidelines. Judge Catherine Hayden found that “It is clear from the evidence that the manner in which the respondent obtained its evidence fell far short of its sampling protocol” and that the SOPs which were "put in place on foot of EU regulations are indeed integral and mandatory.” In addition to the High Court judicial review, the Department is also pursuing a parallel Circuit Court challenge to that verdict.

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In his judgment, justice Garrett Simons found that “the Minister has not identified any convincing reason why the dispute in relation to the statutory notices should be determined by way of judicial review rather than in the pending Circuit Court appeal.

"Stripped to its essentials, the Minister’s preference for judicial review appears to rest principally on the greater authority that would attach to a judgment of the High Court. That is not a sufficient reason to bypass an adequate appeal," he said.

On costs, Justice Simons adjudicated that Mr Fitzgerald “had been entirely successful in resisting the application for judicial review and is entitled to his costs”. The Department had estimated its costs at €52,000, while Mr Fitzgerald estimated his costs at €154,000.

Justice Simons highlighted the extra cost imposed on Mr Fitzgerald and the taxpayer by the High Court action. The Circuit Court of Appeal “provides a direct and proportionate means of challenging the District Court’s orders. It permits the factual and legal issues to be considered together without the more elaborate procedures and substantially greater overall expense associated with High Court judicial review.”