Poots announces appointment of new Independent Panel for Area-based Schemes Reviews

Agriculture Minister Edwin Poots has announced the appointment of a pool of people to serve as chairpersons and panel members on the department’s Area-based Schemes Review of Decisions Independent Panels.
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The panels will review decisions made by DAERA in relation to Direct Payments and other Area-based Schemes.

Under new legislation, which became law in February 2022, the Review of Decisions Independent Panels will make the final decision in future reviews of Area-based Scheme payments, which they have assessed.

The department must accept and implement the decision of the Independent Panel, unless the decision is made on the basis of an error of law.

DAERA Minister Edwin PootsDAERA Minister Edwin Poots
DAERA Minister Edwin Poots

Announcing the appointments, Mr Poots said: “The formation of a new Independent Panel with the task of making lawful decisions in line with the regulations and scheme rules which the department must accept and implement, is to be welcomed.

“It is important that farmers have confidence the review process is fair and impartial.

“Farmers who feel that DAERA did not reach the correct decision in an Area-based Scheme have access to the review procedure.

“The procedure gives farmers an opportunity to provide any relevant documentation/evidence even if this wasn’t available when the original decision was made.”

The new independent panel will not be considering cases where the Review of Decision process has already been completed.

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