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Some 1,263 farmers have notified the Department of Agriculture that they will be appealing their exclusion from the Areas of Natural Constraint (ANC) scheme.
The figures were revealed by Minister for Agriculture Michael Creed in response to a parliamentary question from Fianna Fáil’s agriculture spokesperson Charlie McConalogue.
“To date, my Department has received 1,263 notifications of appeal from farmers," said Minister Creed.
"It should be noted that appeals will be townland based, given the townland structure of the ANC scheme.
“The appeal notifications received represent 679 distinct townlands,” he said.
How to appeal
Minister Creed said that the first step in the appeal process is for a farmer to submit a form to the Department indicating an intention to appeal the status of a particular townland.
“Further to receipt of these notifications, my Department is providing detailed information to appellants in relation to the data underpinning the status of the townland in question in order that they can base any appeal to the independent appeals committee on full information.
“While time lines will be in a large part dictated by the volume of full appeals received, it is expected that the appeals process will be completed in advance of the commencement of payments under the 2019 ANC scheme,” he said.
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