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: Ed Carroll (E)
Deputy Chairpersons: Donal Maguire(E), Myles McDonagh (E) Ordinary Members: Derek Daly(E), Iain Douglas (E)
Committee Secretaries: Michael Kirwan
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
An appeal against a decision issued by the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine is subject to the statutory 14 working day deadline i.e. The Notice of Appeal including the €200 fee must be received within a period of 14 working days[1] 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. Please note that any Notice of Appeal received after the 14 working day period cannot be accepted.
Appeals may be submitted by post to Forestry Appeals Committee, Agriculture Appeals Office, Kilminchy Court, Portlaoise, Co. Laois, R32 DTW5. Alternatively, a completed Notice of Appeal Form may be submitted by email to forestry@agriappeals.gov.ie or delivered by hand. Please note that payments cannot be made electronically. The Notice of Appeal Form must be signed by the appellant or by their nominated representative and the form and fee must be received before the statutory deadline.
It is a legal requirement to pay a fee of €200 to make an appeal. Please include €200 by way of postal order, bank draft or cheque with this form. Payments must be made payable to the Forestry Appeals Committee and be clearly referenced to the licence decision under appeal. The fee may be sent by post or delivered in person during public counter opening hours. The fee cannot be paid electronically or by card. Please note that failure to submit the fee by the 14 working days deadline will result in your appeal being deemed invalid.
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.
[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.