New committee to deal with appeals
It will deal with appeals made by farmers not satisfied with decisions of his department in relation to the implementation of the various facets of the single payment scheme.
John Duggan, a farmer and a former chairman of Avonmore and Glanbia plc, will be the chairman of the committee, which will comprise staff from the Agriculture Appeals Office.
As of now, under the scheme, some 136,000 farmers will qualify for payment of €1.3 billion annually out of the national envelope.
But some 14,000 farmers have asked the department to take force majeure (exceptional circumstances) into consideration in their cases so that they, too, may be allocated single payment entitlement or at a level higher than that at which they currently qualify.
Mr Walsh said the new committee would deal with appeals from farmers in an independent, fair, comprehensive and efficient manner.
The processing of the 14,000 applications received under the force majeure measure had started and individual farmers will be informed of the decision soon.
The Farmers Retirement Group for Justice will hold a meeting at the Village Inn, Enniskeane, Co Cork, on Monday night to discuss the issue of retirees who fear they will lose out under the single farm payment.
