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Forestry Appeals Committee

Welcome to the Forestry Appeals Committee

The Agriculture Appeals Act, 2001, was amended by the Forestry Act 2014 to include a new Section 14A which provides for an appeals service against decisions on forestry licence applications made by the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine (DAFM).

The legislation led to the establishment by the Minister, of the Forestry Appeals Committee (FAC) in 2018. The FAC operates under a separate statutory basis to that of the Agriculture Appeals Office functions. However, the Agriculture Appeals Office provides the administrative and secretariat support to the FAC and, in addition to their agriculture appeal functions, Appeals Officers may be appointed as members of the FAC.

FAC Committee

The FAC currently sits in four divisions and the members serving on the committees include Appeals officers of the Agriculture Appeals Office and external members (E)

Chairperson: Seamus Neely (E) 

Deputy Chairpersons: John Evans(E), Donal Maguire(E), Myles McDonagh (E) Ordinary Members: Derek Daly(E), Iain Douglas (E)

Committee Secretaries: Ruth Kinehan; Vanessa Healy Quinn, Ciara Murphy

Categories of decisions which may be appealed

The Forestry Appeals Committee (FAC) provides an appeals service where, if a person is dissatisfied with a decision of the Minister or an officer of the Minister, they may submit an appeal against a decision on a licence, concerning the following:

  • afforestation
  • felling
  • forest road works
  • aerial fertilisation

Submission of appeals

Appeals must be submitted by post on a notice of appeal form and the fee of €200 must accompany the notice of appeal otherwise the appeal will not be accepted. The postal address is Forestry Appeals Committee, Agriculture Appeals Office, Kilminchy Court, Portlaoise, Co. Laois, R32 DTW5. The Notice of Appeal Form must be signed by the Appellant. Appeals and payments that are not received within the statutory deadline cannot be accepted.

Statutory Deadline for Receipt of Appeals

Any decision issued by the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine is subject to the statutory 14 working day1 deadline i.e. The Notice of Appeal must be received by this office within a period of 14 working days1 beginning on the date of the decision or the publication of the decision, whichever is later. A working day does not include Saturday, Sunday, or a Public Holiday.

1 Where the decision is not published on the day the decision is made, the number of working days shall be extended by the number of working days (or part thereof) that elapsed between the decision day and the publication of the decision, but shall not exceed the period of 28 days specified in section 14A(4)(a) of the Agriculture Appeals Act 2001.

If you do not receive an acknowledgement of your appeal please contact the Forestry Appeals Committee via Tel: (057) 8667167; or e-mail: forestry@agriappeals.gov.ie