28 Mr. J. Walsh asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and Forestry the personnel who have been appointed to the independent appeals unit set up in his Department to deal initially with appeals under the premium and headage schemes; the resources being allocated to this unit; and when sufficient personnel and resources will be allocated to allow this unit cover all schemes. [8802/95]

71 Mr. Morley asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and Forestry the plans, if any, he has to set up an appeals procedure to adjudicate on late applications for cattle headage, beef premium, and other grants, where the applicant contends that there is reasonable cause for the application being late. [8815/95]

I propose to take Questions Nos. 28 and 71 together.

The position as regards appeals procedure is set out in the Charter of Rights for Farmers which I launched just after Easter. My intention is to put an appeals unit in place by the end of the summer which will formally deal with appeals against decisions under headage and premium schemes starting from the 1995 campaign. The unit will operate independently of the staff involved in implementing the schemes and the appeals process will include the right to an oral hearing.